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Future332 Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Whimper

Could you please tell why there is no S at the end of whimper?
He heard the dog whimper.
Thanks.
  

Top answer

Thanks. It's because "heard ... whimper" is a catenative construction.

— CalifJim

  • Thanks.
  • It's because "heard ...
  • whimper" is a catenative construction.
  • Verbs of perception, especially see and hear , are typically combined with the plain form of the following verb, forming a unit of two verbs.
  • I saw the man take the money.
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3 Answers
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future332 Could you please tell why there is no S at the end of whimper?He heard the dog whimper.Thanks.
It's because "heard ... whimper" is a catenative construction. Verbs of perception, especially see and hear, are typically combined with the plain form of the following verb, forming a unit of two verbs.

I saw the man ta
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The subject of the sentence is "he" and the verb is "heard." "The dog" is the direct object. It is not a subject. Therefore, we don't inflect the verb that follows it (whimper). An alternate way of saying the sentence is "He heard the dog whimpering." We don't use the present tense form of "whimper" because it is not a verb in the sentence.

The noun or pronoun after verbs of perception
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EnglishmavenWe don't use the present tense form of "whimper" because it is not a verb in the sentence.
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