This is from a translation of C Dicken's A Christmas Carol, which can be found here:
Die Kälte in seinem Herzen machte seine alten Züge erstarren,
Why is this not,
Die Kälte in seinem Herzen machte seine alten Züge zu erstarren,
and if I were to attempt to write something similar, what research could I do that would reveal to me that machen in this usage requires a bare infinitive?
We recently had the question: If I encounter a verb in the Duden, how can I tell which grammatical cases and prepositions to use with that verb?
Although that question only talks about cases (i.e. nouns or nominals) and prepositions, one could just as well add verbs to it and the answer would remain the same: It simply has to be learned (i) whether a verb can be combined with another verb and (ii) what form the dependent verb takes.
German has three infinitives governed by verbs (Statusrektion):
Learners will encounter these bit by bit when they are taught periphrastic tenses, moods, and voices. To give an example for each:
This is exactly the same pattern as with non-verbal objects, where the following contrasts have to be learned as well:
Ich helfe dir. Ich unterstütze dich.
Er fürchtet mich. Er fürchtet sich vor mir.
While the most important verbs governing infinitives, i.e. those used in expressing periphrastic tenses, moods, voices, are introduced in textbooks, learners will have to learn the rest by looking at examples in dictionaries. Let me give one example for each type of infinitive.
For machen, DWDS has under 7a:
jmdn. stutzen, frösteln, lachen, weinen, etw. vergessen machen
For brauchen, under 1b:
etw. nicht zu tun brauchen (= etw. nicht tun müssen)
For kommen, under 1e:
gelaufen, gefahren, geritten kommen
One important final point: Of the three infinitives mentioned above, infinitive with zu are special in that they and only they can appear in subordinate clauses (Infinitivkonstruktionen). Therefore, googling Verben mit zu-Infinitiv will get you lists of verbs that have clauses as complements, such as versprechen and versuchen. The examples above are different in that two verbs combine within a single clause.
