The beavers that came by parachute: recommend doing, admit doing, praise someone for doing

Q: Which reporting verbs are followed by -ing?

Recommend , admit , deny and suggest take -ing directly: Heter recommended dropping the boxes. Isaiah admitted being skeptical. Several more need a preposition first, and the -ing form follows it: credit someone with , praise or blame someone for , accuse someone of , apologize for , insist on and object to . The B2 lesson The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai teaches all eleven.

Q: What are some examples of reporting verbs with -ing?

Six from The beavers that came by parachute , a B2 lesson on edio.ai: Heter recommended planting four beavers at a time. He praised the method for saving time, money and beavers' lives. Isaiah admits being skeptical at first. Rex credits Geronimo with being the bravest beaver in Idaho history. Leona insists on checking every number. Isaiah apologized for getting carried away. The second verb always ends in -ing .

Q: What's the difference between admit doing and admit that?

Very little: Heter admitted losing one beaver and Heter admitted that he lost one beaver report the same thing. The -ing form is shorter , so news reports often prefer it, while the that clause names the subject again. Deny works the same way: Isaiah denied saying it or denied that he said it . What's wrong is admitted to lose . The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai shows both forms.

Q: Is it “recommended to drop” or “recommended dropping”?

It's recommended dropping : Heter recommended dropping the boxes into small meadows with streams. After recommend , admit and deny , use -ing , not to + base form, and the same goes after a preposition: insisted on checking , not insisted to check . In The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai, the chat with Leona offers I'd recommend to start with the parachutes as a wrong reply.

Q: Did the parachuting beavers survive?

Seventy-five of the 76 landed alive . Elmo Heter's 1950 article says that on an early drop, one beaver climbed out of its box and jumped or fell within 75 feet of the ground. By late 1949, all the transplants were judged a success: the beavers had built dams and houses and stored food. Fish and Game can't confirm that their descendants still live there. The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai separates the known from the debated.

Q: How do I teach reporting verbs with -ing to B2 students?

Teach each verb as a chunk with its preposition , then report real sentences: “Sorry I'm late!” → He apologized for being late. Set it beside lesson 14's warned her not to , so learners see which verbs take to . The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai moves from Isaiah's report and an office argument to the scheme, a table that reports each line with -ing and four more drills, then a news report built step by step.

Q: What's a good game for reporting verbs with -ing?

Try “Guilty or not?” : each student gets a card with a small crime, such as eating the last cookie, and answers the class's questions. Then the class reports: She denied eating it. He admitted taking it. We accused Sam of hiding it. In The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai, a spinning wheel asks questions like Would you object to having beavers in a creek near your home?

Q: What's good homework for reporting verbs with -ing?

Good homework asks for the verb and its preposition together : gaps like My mom accused me ___ (eat) all the cookies , choices between to stay and staying , and a quiz on which report means the same. All ten homework tasks in The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai check themselves, ending with the newsletter's answer to Rex and a school news report about beavers behind a high school.

This B2 ESL lesson plan teaches reporting verbs followed by -ing through the 1948 plan that moved Idaho's beavers by plane and parachute, and through a short news report.

Grammar: Recommend, admit, deny and suggest + -ing (Heter recommended dropping the boxes.), and verbs with a preposition: credit with, praise for, blame for, accuse of, apologize for, insist on, object to.
Topic: Idaho's 1948 beaver drop, Elmo Heter's 1950 article and what is still debated, with words such as relocate, gnaw, wetland and hinge.
Activities: A news report, an office argument and a reader's voice memo, self-checking drills, a planning chat, a model report to order, a template and a question wheel.

What's inside

Chapter 1Warm-up: incoming beavers!
- PictureUnlock
- Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock
- Study the words: a delivery from the skyVocabularyTry it
- Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock
Chapter 2Let's read: special delivery from the sky
- Look at the photo: the Idaho mountainsPictureUnlock
- Read Isaiah's report on The Why DeskArticleUnlock
- Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
- Match the pairs: the paragraphs and their headingsMatchUnlock
Chapter 3Let's listen: would it fly today?
- Listen to Leona and IsaiahListeningTry it
- Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
- Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
- Listen to the Reader's Rebuttal: Rex's voice memoListeningUnlock
- Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
- Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
Chapter 4Grammar: he recommended dropping them
- Study the scheme: recommend dropping, credit him with designingGrammar schemeTry it
- Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: use the -ing form, with a preposition if you need oneFill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the table: report it with the verb and an -ing formFill in the tableTry it
- Drag the words into the gaps: Leona's notes on the beaver storyDrag and dropUnlock
- Choose the correct answer: which sentence is correct?QuizUnlock
Chapter 5Let's talk: file your report
- Choose the right replies: plan a news report with LeonaChatTry it
- Put the paragraphs of Leona's model report in the correct orderDrag and dropUnlock
- Choose the correct option: a news report templateChoose the optionUnlock
- Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
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: use the -ing form, with a preposition if you need oneFill in the gapsUnlock
- Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
- Choose the correct answer: which report means the same?QuizUnlock
- Choose the correct option: the newsletter answers RexChoose the optionUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: a school news reportDrag and dropUnlock

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

parachute
dam
wetland
meadow
colony
hinge
inner tube
irrigation ditch
skeptical

Grammar: reporting verbs + -ing and verb + preposition + -ing

Some reporting verbs take an -ing form, not that or to: Heter recommended dropping the boxes. Others need a preposition first, and after a preposition the verb always takes -ing: Later writers credit Heter with designing them. A 1948 story with a clever plan, one lost beaver and later critics gives learners plenty to recommend, admit, praise and object to.

He recommended dropping the boxes

After some reporting verbs, use the -ing form. After a preposition (with, for, of, on, to), always use the -ing form.

Recommend, admit, deny and suggest + -ing

These four go straight to -ing: recommended dropping, admitted losing, denied saying, suggested cutting. Admit can also take to + -ing: Isaiah admitted to being skeptical. None of them takes to + base form.

Verb	Pattern	Example
recommend	recommend + -ing	Heter recommended dropping the boxes into meadows.
admit	admit + -ing, or admit to + -ing	Heter admitted losing one beaver. Isaiah admitted to being skeptical.
deny	deny + -ing	Isaiah denied saying anything about Pittsburgh.
suggest	suggest + -ing	Leona suggested cutting the draft in half.

Verb + preposition + -ing

Learn each verb with its preposition: credit someone with, praise or blame someone for, apologize for, accuse someone of, insist on, object to. The person goes before the preposition, and -ing stays the same for everyone: Rex praises the department for trying.

Verb + preposition + -ing

Verb	Pattern	Example
credit	credit someone with + -ing	Later writers credit Heter with designing the boxes.
praise	praise someone for + -ing	Rex praises the department for trying.
blame	blame someone for + -ing	A farmer blamed the beavers for blocking his ditch.
accuse	accuse someone of + -ing	Leona accused Isaiah of writing too much.
apologize	apologize (to someone) for + -ing	Isaiah apologized for getting carried away.
insist	insist on + -ing	Leona insists on checking every number.
object	object to + -ing	Many people object to dropping wild animals from planes.

The -ing form is the same for every person

Person	admit + -ing	praise + person + for + -ing
I	I admitted being skeptical.	Leona praised me for trying.
you	You admitted being skeptical.	Leona praised you for trying.
he	He admitted being skeptical.	Leona praised him for trying.
she	She admitted being skeptical.	Leona praised her for trying.
it	It (Pascal) never admits hitting the desk.	Leona praised it for trying.
we	We admitted being skeptical.	Leona praised us for trying.
they	They admitted being skeptical.	Leona praised them for trying.

The to in object to is a preposition

In object to and admit to, to is a preposition, not part of an infinitive, so the -ing form comes next: Many people object to dropping wild animals from planes, not object to drop.

This to is a preposition

In object to and admit to, *to* is a preposition, not part of an infinitive, so the -ing form comes next: Many people object to dropping animals (not: object to drop). Heter admitted losing one beaver, or Heter admitted to losing one beaver: both are right.

A that clause is right too

Admit and deny can also take a clause: Heter admitted that he lost one beaver. Isaiah denied that he said it. News reports often choose the shorter -ing form: Heter admitted losing one beaver.

A that clause is right too

You can also report with admit that or deny that: Heter admitted that he lost one beaver. Isaiah denied that he said it. The -ing form is shorter, so news reports often use it.

In the office and in Idaho

Heter recommended planting four beavers at a time.
He praised the method for saving time, money and beavers' lives.
Isaiah admits being skeptical at first.
Today, many people would object to dropping wild animals from a plane.
Rex credits Geronimo with being the bravest beaver in Idaho history.
Leona insists on checking every number.

Common mistakes

Most slips put to + base form where -ing belongs: recommended to drop, insisted to check, praised her to design. Another takes the wrong preposition: accused him for breaking. The fixes: recommended dropping, insisted on checking, praised her for designing, accused him of breaking.

No to + base form here

No to + base form: recommended dropping (not: recommended to drop), admitted losing (not: admitted to lose), denied breaking (not: denied to break), insisted on checking (not: insisted to check), praised him for designing (not: praised him to design). Learn each verb's preposition: credit with, praise / blame / apologize for, accuse of, insist on, object to.

Common mistakes

Heter recommended to drop the boxes.
Heter recommended dropping the boxes.
recommend + -ing
She insisted to check every number.
She insisted on checking every number.
insist on + -ing
They accused him for breaking the box.
They accused him of breaking the box.
accuse someone of + -ing
They praised her to design the box.
They praised her for designing the box.
praise someone for + -ing

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

Try the reporting verbs + -ing exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

What's in the lesson

21 auto-checked exercises
5 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, admissions and denials with -ing: Heter recommended dropping the boxes into small meadows. Isaiah denied saying anything about Pittsburgh.
put the right preposition before -ing: credit Heter with designing, praise the department for trying, accuse Isaiah of writing too much
treat the to of object to as a preposition: Many people object to dropping wild animals from planes.
avoid recommended to drop and insisted to check: say recommended dropping and insisted on checking
plan a short news report: who, what, when and where first, then why, how, the source, the debate and what's still open

Lesson 15 is the third lesson of Wildlife comebacks, unit 4 of English B2.1 · How the World Works. Lesson 13 reported views with that and lesson 14 reported advice with a person and to; this one adds verbs with -ing, building on suggest + -ing and -ing after prepositions from B1.2 lessons 25 and 26. Lesson 16 closes the unit with verbs of perception. A true story with a planner, a lost beaver and later critics invites exactly these verbs.

Students open boxes of questions about true stories that sound fake, moving wild animals and the news, then learn twelve words, from gnaw and relocate to hinge and inner tube, with pictures and audio. They read Isaiah's report on the 1948 drop, then hear Leona and Isaiah argue whether a state could do it today and Rex from Boise defend the department, both AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking drills, among them a drag-and-drop of Leona's notes on the story. The speaking chapter turns the news report into steps: a planning chat with Leona, her model report to order, a template to complete and a question wheel.

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, -ing gaps with or without a preposition, word order, a quiz on which report means the same, the newsletter's answer to Rex and a school news report about beavers.

Grammar:: reporting verbs · verb + -ing · verb + preposition + -ing · recommend, admit, deny + -ing
Topic:: beavers · Idaho · the 1948 beaver drop · wildlife comebacks · wetlands · news reports · The Why Desk

Teaching tips

Start with a headline that sounds fake: Idaho drops beavers from the sky. Students decide whether it's true and list what they'd check, then read Isaiah's report to find the source and what is still debated.
Learn each verb with its preposition as one chunk: credit with, blame for, accuse of, insist on, object to. One student says the verb; a partner adds the preposition and an -ing ending.
Play the office argument twice: first for who thinks the drop could happen today, then for every verb with -ing. Students note what Isaiah admitted and what Leona insisted on.
Build the report's skeleton on the board before the template: who, what, when and where, then why, how, the source, the debate and what's still open. Students match each paragraph of Leona's model report to a step.

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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

Unit 1 AI and the future of work
narrative tenses, by and until, be bound to and be likely to, the future perfect
Unit 2 Health breakthroughs
the third conditional, the past perfect and past continuous passive, have something done, the passive with two objects
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
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 14Bringing a parrot back from the edgeReporting verbs + object + (not) to + base form
3. Lesson 15 · you're hereThe 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
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
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
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
Unit 8 Exploring the extremes
dimension nouns, the future continuous and future perfect continuous, compound adjectives, only, even and just

Questions about this lesson

Which reporting verbs are followed by -ing?

Recommend, admit, deny and suggest take -ing directly: Heter recommended dropping the boxes. Isaiah admitted being skeptical. Several more need a preposition first, and the -ing form follows it: credit someone with, praise or blame someone for, accuse someone of, apologize for, insist on and object to. The B2 lesson The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai teaches all eleven.

How do you use reporting verbs with a preposition and -ing?

Put the person, if there is one, after the verb, then the preposition and -ing: Rex praises the department for trying. Leona accused Isaiah of writing too much. Each verb keeps its own preposition: with for credit; for for praise, blame and apologize; of for accuse; on for insist; to for object. The scheme in The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai lists them all.

What are some examples of reporting verbs with -ing?

Six from The beavers that came by parachute, a B2 lesson on edio.ai: Heter recommended planting four beavers at a time. He praised the method for saving time, money and beavers' lives. Isaiah admits being skeptical at first. Rex credits Geronimo with being the bravest beaver in Idaho history. Leona insists on checking every number. Isaiah apologized for getting carried away. The second verb always ends in -ing.

What's the difference between admit doing and admit that?

Very little: Heter admitted losing one beaver and Heter admitted that he lost one beaver report the same thing. The -ing form is shorter, so news reports often prefer it, while the that clause names the subject again. Deny works the same way: Isaiah denied saying it or denied that he said it. What's wrong is admitted to lose. The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai shows both forms.

Is it “recommended to drop” or “recommended dropping”?

It's recommended dropping: Heter recommended dropping the boxes into small meadows with streams. After recommend, admit and deny, use -ing, not to + base form, and the same goes after a preposition: insisted on checking, not insisted to check. In The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai, the chat with Leona offers I'd recommend to start with the parachutes as a wrong reply.

Why did Idaho drop beavers by parachute?

After World War II, the resort town of McCall grew fast, and beavers blocked irrigation ditches near new homes. Idaho Fish and Game wanted to relocate them, not kill them, because beaver dams make ponds and wetlands in wild country. Carrying them through roadless mountains on horses and mules took days, and many were lost, so Elmo Heter of Fish and Game had an answer: fly them in. The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai tells the story.

Did the parachuting beavers survive?

Seventy-five of the 76 landed alive. Elmo Heter's 1950 article says that on an early drop, one beaver climbed out of its box and jumped or fell within 75 feet of the ground. By late 1949, all the transplants were judged a success: the beavers had built dams and houses and stored food. Fish and Game can't confirm that their descendants still live there. The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai separates the known from the debated.

How do I teach reporting verbs with -ing to B2 students?

Teach each verb as a chunk with its preposition, then report real sentences: “Sorry I'm late!” → He apologized for being late. Set it beside lesson 14's warned her not to, so learners see which verbs take to. The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai moves from Isaiah's report and an office argument to the scheme, a table that reports each line with -ing and four more drills, then a news report built step by step.

What's a good game for reporting verbs with -ing?

Try “Guilty or not?”: each student gets a card with a small crime, such as eating the last cookie, and answers the class's questions. Then the class reports: She denied eating it. He admitted taking it. We accused Sam of hiding it. In The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai, a spinning wheel asks questions like Would you object to having beavers in a creek near your home?

What's good homework for reporting verbs with -ing?

Good homework asks for the verb and its preposition together: gaps like My mom accused me ___ (eat) all the cookies, choices between to stay and staying, and a quiz on which report means the same. All ten homework tasks in The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai check themselves, ending with the newsletter's answer to Rex and a school news report about beavers behind a high school.

How do you practice reporting verbs with -ing one-to-one?

Report a week of small events: the student tells the teacher who apologized, who was praised and who was blamed for what, and the teacher asks follow-ups such as What did he insist on? Then swap roles. The chat in The beavers that came by parachute on edio.ai works without a partner: Leona helps the student plan a news report, and most right replies use the pattern, such as Heter admitted losing one beaver on an early drop.

Are there interactive exercises for reporting verbs with -ing?

Yes. Without an account, this page plays three parts of The beavers that came by parachute, a B2 lesson on edio.ai: Leona and Isaiah's argument about the drop, a table that reports each line with an -ing form and Leona's chat that plans a news report. You need an account for the rest.

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About this lesson

What's inside

Vocabulary

Grammar: reporting verbs + -ing and verb + preposition + -ing

Recommend, admit, deny and suggest + -ing

Verb + preposition + -ing

Verb + preposition + -ing

The -ing form is the same for every person

The to in object to is a preposition

A that clause is right too

In the office and in Idaho

Common mistakes

Common mistakes

Try the reporting verbs + -ing exercises

What's in the lesson

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

Teaching tips

Teach the whole lesson in edio

Start a free trial

Open the lesson

Teach it live or as homework

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

Unit 1 AI and the future of work

Unit 2 Health breakthroughs

Unit 3 Moving people

Unit 4 Wildlife comebacks

Unit 5 Pop culture goes global

Unit 6 Money and smart choices

Unit 7 Language and communication

Unit 8 Exploring the extremes

Questions about this lesson

Teach this lesson with your students