Infinitive or past

Question

Why is past used in this extract when grammar books say that infinitive or gerund could be used after see,...etc.?

"The economic success of the 1960s and 1970s saw Arabian Gulf countries transformed into modern states.'

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

anonymous
Why is past used in this extract when grammar books say that infinitive or gerund could be used after see,...etc.?
"The economic success of the 1960s and 1970s saw Arabian Gulf countries transformed into modern states.'

You can think of it as the omission of 'being', the gerund (-ing) form.

... saw Arabian Gulf countries (being) transformed into modern states.

Or even as the omission of the infinitive.

... saw Arabian Gulf countries (be) transformed into modern states.

Or you can think of 'see' as having a meaning that is different from the 'see' that takes a gerund or infinitive. Here's the definition of 'see' that applies in your sentence:

If a place or a period of time sees an event, the event happens in that place or during that time.

By the way, that's not the past tense; it's the past participle, a non-finite verb form.

CJ

GPY · Answer

"transformed" here is not (active) past tense, but is the past participle used in a passive sense. "transform" is one of those verbs that can work either way. The subject can "transform" into something (active), or it can "be transformed" into something (passive), with essentially similar meaning when the agent of the passive verb is unspecified.

(Cross-posted.)

Infinitive or past

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions