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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Hear something go off vs hear something went off
Here's a question for the English teachers here.
A student asked me yesterday about why we say, "I heard my alarm go off" for the past tense, and not "I heard it went off?" Does anybody have an explanation as to the structure? It's not subjunctive, but any idea of what it is? I know which one is right, but is there a reason for it?
A student asked me yesterday about why we say, "I heard my alarm go off" for the past tense, and not "I heard it went off?" Does anybody have an explanation as to the structure? It's not subjunctive, but any idea of what it is? I know which one is right, but is there a reason for it?
Top answer
Anonymous why we say, "I heard my alarm go off" 'hear', like 'see', is a verb of perception. These (and other verbs) form catenative structures with other verbs. With the verbs 'hear' and 'see' the second verb is not inflected; it appears in its plain form.
- Anonymous why we say, "I heard my alarm go off" 'hear', like 'see', is a verb of perception.
- These (and other verbs) form catenative structures with other verbs.
- With the verbs 'hear' and 'see' the second verb is not inflected; it appears in its plain form.
- heard the bell ring; saw the car stop at the corner You can probably find loads of information by Googling 'catenative verb'.
- ) CJ
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2 Answers
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Anonymouswhy we say, "I heard my alarm go off"'hear', like 'see', is a verb of perception. These (and other verbs) form catenative structures with other verbs. With the verbs 'hear' and 'see' the second verb is not inflected; it appears in its plain form.
heard the bell ring; saw the car stop at the corner
You can probably find load
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