I sometimes see people cry in the theater.

Question

I'd be happy if someone would answer my question. Thanks in advance.

Concerning the following 2 sentences:

A: I watched him cross the street.

B: I watched him crossing the street.

I think that A expresses that he had finished crossing when the speaker mentioned this sentence, and that B expresses that his action hadn't finished.

Then how about this?--I sometimes see people cry in the theater.
Does this sentence express that I see people's action of crying until they finish crying?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Does this sentence express that I see people's action of crying until they finish crying?

No. It means that there are instances of 'acts of crying' in the theater, and you are sometimes present to see them. Even seeing just the beginning is enough to observe that an 'act of crying' has taken place, so the sentence doesn't mean the crying is necessarily finished on each occasion that you see it.

CJ

Kooyeen · Answer

Hi,
I think you can see it this way:

I see people cry ---> I see people. They cry.
I see people crying ---> I see people. They are crying.

That approach works with other similar structures too, like "hear someone do/doing something", etc.

Anonymous · Answer

-Hi, Calif Jim. I see very much. So how about this.------------------------------------------
------ Tom watched people shop in the markets, or stroll arm-in-arm with friends.

Did Tom observe people's act of shopping or strolling arm-in-arm with friends?
Doesn't this sentence mean such acts are finished?

Then what's the difference between "Tom watched people shop in the markets" and "Tom watched people shopping in the markets"?

And how about this: Tom watched me shop in the markets?
It means my act of shopping aren't necessarily finished?

CalifJim · Answer

It doesn't matter whether Tom watched people shop or Tom watched people shopping, he watched exactly the same thing in both cases. watch is a verb which carries the meaning of a continuous open period of time, so no matter which form you use after watched, with or without -ing, the effect is the same. The idea of finishing does not always apply. It may depend on the introductory verb.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

--- Hi, C J. I agree with your idea. (You said, "watch is a verb which carries the meaning of a continuous open period of time, so no matter which form you use after watched, with or without -ing, the effect is the same.")

But there is one thing I want to ask about my idea of "finishing".

A: I saw the boy swimming across the river.

B: I saw the boy swim across the river.

C: I sometimes see people cry in the theater.

D: I would often hear my brother sing French songs every night.

A and B are the expressions of personal and specific events. In thses cases, it is clear that in A action is not finished, while in B action is finished.

However, C is an expression of general action and D is one of habitual action. In these cases, no matter which form we use after saw, with or without -ing, the effect is the same, I think.
Is my explanation right?

CalifJim · Answer

In A, the swimming may well have finished. We can't say that it's clear that in A the action is not finished. By the time you say the sentence the swim may or may not have finished. What's important is not whether it has finished or not, but that the part you mention in the sentence is the part where the action was in progress. It's not whether it finished, but whether the finishing of the act is relevant. With the -ing form, you're saying that it is irrevelant whether the act finished or not. Only the fact that it was on-going is relevant, no matter what happened later.

In A, the part you are claiming to have seen (whether it finished or not) is the part when it was happening -- when the action was in progress.
In B, you claim to have seen the entire act, or at least enough of it to qualify it as a swim across the river. If, in your judgment, just seeing the part where the swimmer reached the opposite shore qualifies as a swim across the river, than that's enough for you to say that you saw him swim across the river. To be absolutely accurate, of course, you would have had to see the entire action from beginning to end.

Yes, you can say that C is 'general action', and D is 'habitual action'. You might even say that both are 'habitual' in nature. With these situations, it's true that the difference between the -ing form and the non -ing form is negligible.

CJ

I sometimes see people cry in the theater.

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