Present participle

Question

Sir, When is present participle and bare infinitive used after pereception verbs?  I saw you cry  I saw you crying  What is the difference? Thanks.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Your two questions are essentially the same question since they are so closely related.
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"I saw you cry" is closer to:

"I saw that you cried."
"You cried (for a period of time), and I saw it."
"You had a crying spell; I saw it."

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"I saw you crying" is closer to:

"I saw that you were crying."
"I saw you while you were crying."
"You were crying when I saw you."
"You were crying, and I saw it."
"I caught sight of you as you were crying."

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The same paraphrases can be applied to the following pairs:

He saw me leave the building.
He saw me leaving the building.

I saw Ben fly a kite.
I saw Ben flying a kite.

Joan saw me take a cookie.
Joan saw me taking a cookie.

Technically, the difference is aspect -- progressive aspect

and non-progressive aspect (cry), which focus on the on-going nature of an act and the act as a whole, respectively.

The difference may be easier to understand when we contrast present and past tenses at the same time as we change the aspect:

I see the bird flying. (If the bird stops flying, you can no longer truthfully say this.)
I saw the bird fly. (If the bird started to fly, flew, then stopped flying, you can say this.)

These two are related the same way as the following two:

The bird is flying.
The bird flew.

CJ

Present participle

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