verb phrase (pattern) · neutral

accuse + somebody + of + V-ing

Band 5-6speakingtask2

To charge someone with doing something wrong; structure: accuse somebody of doing something.

Examples

“They accused him of stealing the money.”

“The neighbours accused the company of polluting the river.”

“She was unfairly accused of lying.”

Band 8 sentence

“Local residents accused the factory of discharging unsafe waste, prompting an independent investigation.”

Collocations

  • accuse someone of cheating
  • be accused of murder
  • wrongly accused

Word family

accuse verbaccusation nounaccused adjective / noun (the accused)

Common mistakes

They accused him to steal the money.→They accused him of stealing the money.

She accused him for the mistake.→She accused him of the mistake.

Say it for a higher band

5blame + for + V-ing→6accuse + somebody + of + V-ing→7+accuse + somebody + of + V-ing

Synonyms

blame

Easily confused

blame + for + noun/V-ing

“They blamed him for causing the accident.”

accuse + somebody + of + V-ing

“She accused him of lying to the committee.”

Related words

look forward to + V-ingtry + V-ing / try to + Vfor + somebody + to + Vavoid + V-ingbe likely to + Vbegin / start + V-ing / to + Vprevent + somebody + from + V-ingturn out + to + V

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In Gerunds & infinitives

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