They called for action to be taken against the unions.
I waited for him to speak.
Note that the to-infinitive is often a passive one.
Here is a list of verbs that can be used in this way:
appeal
apply
arrange
ask
call
clamour
long
opt
pay
plead
press
vote
wait
wish
yearn
transitive verbs with an infinitive without to
3.210 A few verbs are followed by an object and an infinitive without to, not an -ing participle or a to-infinitive. They are let, make, and have in the sense of cause to happen or experience.
Jenny let him talk.
My father made me go for the interview.
He lay in a darkened room and had her bring him meals on trays.
Verbs that can be used either with an infinitive without to or with an -ing participle are explained in paragraph 3.205.
have and get used for showing cause
3.211 A special use of have when used with another verb is to say that the subject causes something to be dealt with by someone else. In this case, have is followed by an object referring to the thing dealt with, and then by the -ed participle of a transitive verb or of an intransitive verb followed by a preposition.
I have my hair cut every six weeks.
This structure is also used to say that something belonging to the subject of have is affected in some way.
She’d just lost her job and had some money stolen.
If you want to mention the performer of the second action, you use by followed by a noun.
He had to have his leg massaged by his trainer.
Get can also be used with an object and an -ed participle to talk about causing something to be dealt with or affected in some way.
We must get the car repaired.
want and need with an -ed participle
3.212 Want is also used with an object and an -ed participle, to show that you would like something to be done.
I want the whole approach changed.
I don’t want you hurt.
Need is used in a similar way, usually when the object is something that belongs to the subject.
You need your eyes tested.
4 Expressing time: tenses and time adverbials
Introduction
4.1 When you are making a statement, you usually need to make it clear whether you are talking about a situation that exists now, existed in the past, or is likely to exist in the future. There are different ways of expressing time: tense is one; the use of time adverbials is another.
A tense is a verb form that indicates a particular point in time or period of time.
The form belonging to a particular tense is obtained by the addition of inflections to the base form of the verb. In English, time is also indicated by the inclusion of auxiliaries or modals in the verb phrase.
smile…smiled
was smiling…has been smiling…had smiled
will smile…may smile
Some verbs have irregular forms for past tenses.
fight…fought
go…went
For information about all these forms, see the Reference Section.
4.2 Sometimes the point in time is clear from the tense of the verb, and no other time reference is required. However, if you want to draw attention to the time of the action, you use a time adverbial.
A time adverbial may be (i) an adverb (e.g. afterwards, immediately), (ii) a prepositional phrase (e.g. at eight o’clock, on Monday), or (iii) a noun phrase (e.g. the next day, last week).
She’s moving tomorrow.
He was better after undergoing surgery on Saturday.
Record profits were announced last week.
For more general information about adverbials, see the beginning of Chapter 6.
position of time adverbial
4.3 Time adverbials normally come at the end of a clause, after the verb or after its object if there is one. You can put more focus on the time by placing the adverbial at the beginning of the clause.
We’re getting married next year.
Next year, the museum is expecting even more visitors.
I was playing golf yesterday.
Yesterday the atmosphere at the factory was tense.
If the time adverbial is an adverb, it can also come immediately after be or after the first auxiliary in a verb phrase.
She is now pretty well-known in this country.
Cooper had originally been due to retire last week.
Public advertisements for the post will soon appear in the national press.
duration and frequency
4.4 Some verb forms are used to say that an event takes place continuously over a period of time, or is repeated several times. You may also want to say how long something lasts, or how often it happens. To do this, adverbials of duration (e.g. for a long time) and adverbials of frequency (e.g. often, every year) are used.
America has always been highly influential.
People are sometimes scared to say what they really think.
Hundreds of people are killed every year in fires.
They would go on talking for hours.
Adverbials of frequency are explained and listed in paragraphs 4.114 to 4.122. Adverbials of duration are explained and listed in paragraphs 4.123 to 4.144.
4.5 The following paragraphs describe the ways in which you can talk about the present, the past, and the future. After each of these, there is a section on the ways in which you use time adverbials with each tense.
There are some time adverbials that are used mainly with the past tenses. These are explained in paragraph 4.41. Time adverbials that are used with future forms can be found in paragraphs 4.60 to 4.62.