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Bringing a parrot back from the edge: urge, warn and persuade someone (not) to do something

This B2 ESL lesson plan teaches reporting verbs with an object and infinitive through the long effort to bring the Puerto Rican parrot back from 13 birds in the wild.

Grammar
Urge, encourage, persuade, warn, advise, remind, invite and allow + a person + (not) to (Mark warned her not to touch the cages.), and why suggest doesn't fit.
Topic
Aviaries, nest guarding, hawk training and releases into three forests, with words such as aviary, flock, chick, canopy and startle.
Activities
A field story, an aviary visit and a reader's voice memo, self-checking drills, a chat about an aviary's rules and boxes of questions about zoos and rules.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: thirteen birds left

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: saving a parrotVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2The Why Desk explains: from thirteen birds

    • Look at the photo: a Puerto Rican parrotPictureUnlock
    • Read Harper's field story on The Why DeskArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Match the years and the eventsMatchUnlock

  3. Chapter 3On the ground: whispering at the aviary

    • Listen to Harper and MarkListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Reader's Rebuttal: Joan's voice memoListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: they warned me not to touch

    • Study the scheme: warn someone not toGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionTry it
    • Fill in the gaps: report the wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Sort the words into the correct columns: verb + person + to?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which sentence is correct?QuizUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: cages, bridges and rules

    • Choose the right replies: the aviary's rulesChatTry it
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: report the words with a new verbFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct order: new sentencesUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which report means the same?QuizUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Burt's email to new volunteersChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Harper answers JoanDrag and dropUnlock

33 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • aviary
  • endangered
  • flock
  • chick
  • hawk
  • transmitter
  • canopy
  • boot camp
  • startle

Grammar: reporting verbs + object + (not) to + base form

Advice, warnings, requests and permission are often reported with a verb, a person and to: Mark warned her not to touch the cages. An aviary with rules at every gate is full of them. Building on ask and tell someone to, learners pick the verb that names what the speaker did, then put the person straight after it.

They warned me not to touch the cages

Report advice, warnings, requests and permission with a verb + a person + (not) to + the base form.

Eight verbs for advice, warnings and permission

Urge asks very strongly, encourage gives support, warn names a danger, advise gives the best thing to do, remind helps memory, invite asks someone to join and allow gives permission. Persuade means the person did it in the end; after urge, maybe not.

Verb + person + (not) to + base form

VerbUse it forExample
urgeasking very stronglyThe Service urges people to report any parrot they see.
encouragegiving support and hopeMark encouraged Harper to film from far away.
persuadechanging someone's mind with reasonsHe persuaded her to take a photo instead.
warna danger or a problemMark warned her not to touch the cages.
advisethe best thing to doA 2008 study advised managers to keep guarding nests.
remindhelping someone rememberThe keeper reminded us to close the door.
inviteasking someone to come or joinThe staff invited our class to watch a release.
allowgiving permissionThe guide didn't allow us to go inside the cage.

persuade or urge?

persuade someone to do something: they do it in the end. urge someone to do something: you ask very strongly, but maybe they don't do it. ask and tell (B1.2) work the same way: The staff asked us to whisper.

At the aviary and in the forest

  • The staff urged every visitor to keep quiet near the cages.
  • Mark encouraged Harper to film from far away.
  • He warned her not to take the feather.
  • He persuaded her to take a photo instead.
  • A 2008 study advised managers to start a second flock.
  • The Service urges everyone to report any parrot they see.

The person comes right after the verb

The person is an object, with no to before it: me, you, him, her, it, us, them or a noun. So it's encouraged them to film, not encouraged to them, and The staff urged every visitor to keep quiet.

PersonAfter the verbExample
ImeMark warned me not to touch the cages.
youyouMark warned you not to touch the cages.
hehimMark warned him not to touch the cages.
sheherMark warned her not to touch the cages.
ititThe keeper encouraged it to fly. (it = the chick)
weusMark warned us not to touch the cages.
theythemMark warned them not to touch the cages.

Not goes right before to

A negative puts not between the person and to: They warned us not to feed the birds. Never warned not us. And never drop to: persuaded them to release the birds, not persuaded them release.

Where do the person and not go?

The person comes right after the verb, with no to before it: encouraged them to film (not: encouraged to them). not goes right before to: They warned us not to feed the birds (not: They warned not us to feed…). Never leave out to: persuaded them to release (not: persuaded them release).

Suggest, say and explain don't work like this

They suggested us to film is wrong. Say They advised us to film or, as in B1.2, They suggested filming. With say, switch to tell: They told us to wait. And no that before to: advised them to wait.

suggest, say and explain don't work like this

Not: They suggested us to film. Say: They advised us to film, or They suggested filming (B1.2). The same with say and explain: not They said us to wait, but They told us to wait. And no that before to: advised them to wait (not: advised them that to wait).

Common mistakes

Four slips break the same order: advised them that to keep, encouraged to them to film, persuaded them release and warned not them to feed. Verb, person, (not) to, base form: The study advised them to keep guarding nests.

  • The study advised them that to keep guarding nests.

    The study advised them to keep guarding nests.

    no that before to

  • Mark encouraged to them to film from far away.

    Mark encouraged them to film from far away.

    the person comes right after the verb

  • The biologists persuaded them release the birds.

    The biologists persuaded them to release the birds.

    don't leave out to

  • They warned not them to feed the birds.

    They warned them not to feed the birds.

    not goes right before to

More lessons on this grammar: Reported speech lessons and exercises · Gerunds and infinitives lessons and exercises

Try the verb + object + infinitive exercises

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What's in the lesson

  • 18 auto-checked exercises
  • 6 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • report advice and requests with a person and to: The Service urges people to report any parrot they see.
  • put not right before to: Mark warned her not to touch the cages, never warned not her to touch
  • choose persuade, encourage, remind, invite or allow for what the speaker meant: He persuaded her to take a photo instead.
  • avoid suggested us to: say advised us to film or suggested filming
  • pass an aviary's rules on to a friend: They allowed us to take photos, but they didn't allow us to use a flash.

Lesson 14 is the second lesson of Wildlife comebacks, unit 4 of English B2.1 · How the World Works. B1.2 lesson 16 reported requests with ask and tell someone to, and lesson 13 brought in reporting verbs with that; now eight more verbs take a person and an infinitive. Lesson 15 moves on to verbs with -ing. A bird that visitors must not touch, startle or catch makes warnings and advice part of the story.

Students spin a wheel of questions about zoos, pets and saving rare animals, then learn twelve words, from aviary and flock to transmitter and boot camp, with pictures and audio. They read Harper's field story on the parrot's slow comeback, then hear her argue about cages with Mark, a volunteer at an aviary, and Joan from Puerto Rico make the case for local schools; both voices are AI-generated. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking drills, among them a column sort of verbs that take a person. In the speaking chapter, students tell their friend Vicky an aviary's rules in a chat, then open boxes about zoos, rules and persuasion.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, gaps and a memory game on the words; then forms to choose in new sentences, reports with a new verb, word order, a quiz on which report means the same, Burt's email to new volunteers and Harper's answer to Joan.

Grammar:
reporting verbs · verb + object + infinitive · urge, persuade, warn, advise · not to + infinitive
Topic:
Puerto Rican parrot · Puerto Rico · El Yunque · endangered species · wildlife comebacks · aviaries · The Why Desk

Teaching tips

  • Collect real rules first: students write three rules from a gym, library or museum they know, then report them: The librarian reminded us to whisper. They didn't allow us to eat inside.
  • Ask whether 13 birds are too few to save before the reading. Students guess what biologists could do, then read Harper's story to check their ideas against aviaries, nest guarding and hawk training.
  • Play the aviary dialogue twice: first for where Harper and Mark disagree, then for each verb with a person and to. Students list what Mark urged, warned and persuaded Harper to do.
  • Contrast persuade and urge with two endings: Mark urged Harper to leave the feather leaves the result open; Mark persuaded her to take a photo says she did. Students match a verb to each ending.

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The whole course: English B2.1 · How the World Works

32 lessons for adults at B2 in American English, each answering one question about how the world works. The team of The Why Desk, a small online magazine in Pittsburgh, takes on one question a week, from the day a computer beat the world chess champion to eight people sealed inside Biosphere 2. Learners tell stories with narrative tenses, speculate about the past and the future, and report what experts claim. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 AI and the future of work

    narrative tenses, by and until, be bound to and be likely to, the future perfect

    1. Lesson 1Checkmate: the day a computer beat the championNarrative tenses: past simple, past continuous and past perfect
    2. Lesson 2The robot car that crossed the desertTime prepositions: by, until, within, throughout, in time and on time
    3. Lesson 3Can a chatbot fool you?Probability about the future: be bound to, be likely to, the chances are
    4. Lesson 4By 2035, what will AI have designed?The future perfect simple: will have + past participle

  2. Unit 2 Health breakthroughs

    the third conditional, the past perfect and past continuous passive, have something done, the passive with two objects

    1. Lesson 5The moldy melon that changed medicineThe third conditional: if + had done, would have done
    2. Lesson 61.8 million Polio PioneersThe past perfect passive and the past continuous passive
    3. Lesson 7One clinic, many doctorsHave / get something done
    4. Lesson 8A kidney from a twinThe passive with two objects

  3. Unit 3 Moving people

    the past perfect continuous, the passive infinitive and -ing form, it's worth and there's no point, the future in the past

    1. Lesson 9Six years to the golden spikeThe past perfect continuous vs the past perfect simple
    2. Lesson 10Riding a pod with no driverThe passive infinitive and the passive -ing form
    3. Lesson 11The town that painted bike lanes firstIt's worth, there's no point and it's no use + -ing
    4. Lesson 12The highways that were supposed to take 13 yearsThe future in the past

  4. Unit 4 Wildlife comebacks

    reporting verbs with a that clause, with an object and infinitive and with -ing, verbs of perception

    1. Lesson 13Did wolves really change Yellowstone's rivers?Reporting verbs + that clause
    2. Lesson 14 · you're hereBringing a parrot back from the edgeReporting verbs + object + (not) to + base form
    3. Lesson 15The beavers that came by parachuteReporting verbs + -ing and verb + preposition + -ing
    4. Lesson 16Fifteen bison take the trainVerbs of perception + object + base form or -ing

  5. Unit 5 Pop culture goes global

    comment adverbs, wish and if only for the present and the past, have someone do and get someone to do

    1. Lesson 17The party that started hip hopComment adverbs: apparently, supposedly, undoubtedly
    2. Lesson 18Slide to the left!Wish and if only for wishes about now
    3. Lesson 19If only they'd kept SupermanWish and if only + past perfect for regrets
    4. Lesson 20The hit factory on West Grand BoulevardCausative have and get: have someone do, get someone to do

  6. Unit 6 Money and smart choices

    -ever words and no matter, should have and could have, prepositions for numbers and change, it's time and would rather

    1. Lesson 21The bank that never closed-ever words and no matter
    2. Lesson 22One marshmallow now or two later?Should have, shouldn't have and could have
    3. Lesson 23Benjamin Franklin's 200-year giftPrepositions for numbers and change
    4. Lesson 24Why buy a drill you'll use once?It's (high) time and would rather + past simple

  7. Unit 7 Language and communication

    must have, might have and can't have, verb prefixes and suffixes, past modals in continuous and passive forms, agreement with quantities

    1. Lesson 25How did one man write down a language?Past modals of deduction: must have, might have, can't have
    2. Lesson 26Why do Americans write “color”?Verb prefixes and suffixes: misspell, rewrite, simplify, shorten
    3. Lesson 27The joke that needed a smileyPast modals in continuous and passive forms
    4. Lesson 28Can preschoolers save a language?Subject-verb agreement with quantities and collective nouns

  8. Unit 8 Exploring the extremes

    dimension nouns, the future continuous and future perfect continuous, compound adjectives, only, even and just

    1. Lesson 29A walk on the ocean floorDimension nouns and phrases: depth, width, height
    2. Lesson 30Six months of night at the South PoleThe future continuous and the future perfect continuous
    3. Lesson 31Flying on pedal powerCompound adjectives with numbers and participles
    4. Lesson 32Two years under glassFocus adverbs: only, even, just and at all

Questions about this lesson

What is the verb + object + infinitive pattern?
It's a verb, a person, then to + base form: The Service urges people to report any parrot they see. Many reporting verbs use it for advice, warnings and permission: urge, encourage, persuade, warn, advise, remind, invite and allow, along with ask and tell. A negative adds not before to. The B2 lesson Bringing a parrot back from the edge on edio.ai teaches all eight.
How do you report advice and warnings with urge, warn and advise?
Put the person straight after the verb, then to: A 2008 study advised managers to keep guarding nests. For a warning, not goes right before to: Mark warned her not to touch the cages. There's no to before the person (urged to them is wrong), no that before to, and to never drops out. The scheme in Bringing a parrot back from the edge on edio.ai shows the order for every person.
What are some examples of reporting verbs with an object and infinitive?
Five from Bringing a parrot back from the edge, a B2 lesson on edio.ai: The staff urged every visitor to keep quiet near the cages. Mark encouraged Harper to film from far away. He warned her not to take the feather. He persuaded her to take a photo instead. A 2008 study advised managers to start a second flock. The person always sits between the verb and to.
What's the difference between persuade and urge?
Persuade tells you the person agreed in the end: Mark persuaded Harper to take a photo, so she took one. Urge only says the request was strong: The Service urges everyone to report any parrot they see, whether or not they do. Encourage is softer, with support and hope. In Bringing a parrot back from the edge on edio.ai, Mark urges, warns and finally persuades Harper during her visit to the aviary.
Is it “suggested us to” or “advised us to”?
It's advised us to, because suggest can't take a person + to. Say They advised us to film from far away or They suggested filming from far away, not They suggested us to film. Say and explain don't fit the pattern either: They told us to wait, not said us to wait. A column sort in Bringing a parrot back from the edge on edio.ai separates the verbs that take it from those that don't.
What is the Puerto Rican parrot?
It's a bright green parrot with a red forehead and white rings around its eyes that lives only in Puerto Rico; the US Fish and Wildlife Service calls it the only native parrot in the United States. Its Taíno name, iguaca, copies its call, and it feeds high in the forest canopy on more than 60 recorded kinds of food. It's still listed as endangered. Bringing a parrot back from the edge on edio.ai tells how it is coming back.
How did the Puerto Rican parrot come back?
Only 13 were counted in the wild in 1975. A serious rescue began in 1973, one study says: biologists guarded nests, added nest boxes and bred parrots in an aviary, where the first recorded chick hatched in 1979. Releases began at Río Abajo in 2006 and Maricao in 2016, and trainers used a trained hawk to teach young parrots to hide. Harper's story in Bringing a parrot back from the edge on edio.ai explains the program.
How do I teach reporting verbs with an object and infinitive?
Start from rules people really gave your students: a coach, a doctor, a museum guard. Report each one with the verb that names the act (warned, advised, reminded), then add not where needed. Bringing a parrot back from the edge on edio.ai moves from Harper's field story and her aviary visit to the scheme, a choice of forms, a gap-fill, a column sort, a quiz and word order, then a chat about an aviary's rules.
What's a good game for practicing warn, urge and persuade?
Play “The strict guide”: one student is a guide at a zoo, museum or park and gives the group five quick rules. Then each student reports one: She warned us not to feed the goats. She allowed us to take photos. In Bringing a parrot back from the edge on edio.ai, one box asks students to play an aviary volunteer and give visitors three rules with We urge you to… and We warn you not to…
What's good homework for verb + object + infinitive?
Good homework turns direct speech into a report with a new verb: Mom to my brother: “Remember to take your keys!” → Mom reminded him to take his keys. Add word order and a quiz on which report means the same. All ten homework tasks in Bringing a parrot back from the edge on edio.ai check themselves, and two of them are whole texts: Burt's email to new volunteers and Harper's answer to Joan.
How do you practice these reporting verbs one-to-one?
Swap instructions from real life: the student tells the teacher what a doctor, boss or parent once said, and the teacher asks Did she warn you or just advise you? Then the roles switch. The chat in Bringing a parrot back from the edge on edio.ai works without a partner: Vicky starts as a volunteer at an aviary, and the student passes on what the staff said: They warned us not to touch the cages.
Are there interactive exercises for verb + object + infinitive?
Yes. This page plays three parts of Bringing a parrot back from the edge, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, without an account: Harper's visit to the aviary with Mark, a multiple-choice drill on verb + person + to and the chat about an aviary's rules. The other parts open with an account.
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