Catenative verbs are English language verbs which can be followed directly by another verb, in either the "to" infinitive or present participle / gerund forms. For example:

He deserves to win the cup.

Most of these verbs demand that the following verb be in one or the other (infinitive or gerund) form only. A few can take both forms, but sometimes there is a difference in meaning.

They are called catenative from their ability to form chains.

We promised to agree to try practicing playing tennis more often.

See also

See wiktionary for a list of catenative verbs.

In other fields, Catenation and Concatenation (disambiguation) refer to the joining of similar things in a series or chain.