Verb Noun Verb in sequence?

Question

Hi dear all,Is the following sentence correct?Did you see those students go in that room?The meaning is fairly obvious, but the grammar is a bit unclear, something is missing. Shouldn't it be something like Did you see those students going in(to) that room? OrDid you see how those students went in(to) that room?Can I use that kind of pattern in formal writing, or is it just a kind of informal language?Thanks!

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

'Did you see them go' and 'did you seem them going' are both correct. Some verbs can take the bare infinitive (no 'to') as object, some can take the -ing form as object, some can take either and some can take neither.

Vanyatka · Answer

Mister Micawber'Did you see them go' and 'did you seem them going' are both correct. Some verbs can take the bare infinitive (no 'to') as object, some can take the -ing form as object, some can take either and some can take neither.

MM, thank you for the reply. But the the object of the verb to see is "students". It is the object that is followed by a bare infinitive. The type of the first verb seems to be irrelevant, as I can substitute to see with almost any other verb "Did you hear them go, did you paint them go, did you listen them go, did you guess them go", etc.

The strange thing is that the phrase "He let him do the job" sounds natural. Mb because let is modal? Aha, I see your point now

I need the list of verbs which may take bare infinitife. Thanks very much!

Vanyatka · Answer

Verbs of perception — hear, see, watch — and a handful of other verbs — help, let, and make — will take what is called the bare infinitive, an infinitive without the particle "to." This is true of these verbs only in the active voice.

We watched him clear the table.

We watched him clear the table.
They heard the thief crash through the door.
She made me do it.
We helped her finish the homework

MM, this totally confirms your explanation, thanks!
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gerunds.htm#bare

Mister Micawber · Answer

Yes, sorry, Vanyatka. I should have written 'object complement'.

Let him do-- let is one of the coercive verbs: have, make, let. This is one subset of the few verbs that take bare infinitive complementation. Some others: feel, hear, see, help, notice, watch. I don't know whether this is a closed set, though.

Your examples do not all work:

Did you hear them go -- OK
Did you paint them go -- No; no meaning
Did you listen them go -- No-- listen to
Did you guess them go-- No; no meaning

Vanyatka · Answer

Thanks Mister Micawber,

To be honest, the list was just my speculation. Awkwardly tried to use analogy, to confirm the point

Verb Noun Verb in sequence?

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