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Hasibul Alam Posted 6 years ago
Grammar

Why here past form of walk has not been applied?

“The two of them looked out, to where I am now, and they watched two boys walk up the street”
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Top answer

Hasibul Alam watched two boys walk up the street 'watch' is a catenative verb. It takes a plain form or an -ing form. In this way it is like other verbs of perception like see and hear .

  • Hasibul Alam watched two boys walk up the street 'watch' is a catenative verb.
  • It takes a plain form or an -ing form.
  • In this way it is like other verbs of perception like see and hear .
  • Thus, the following are all correct.
  • They watched the boys walk up the street.
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2 Answers
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Hasibul Alamwatched two boys walk up the street

'watch' is a catenative verb. It takes a plain form or an -ing form.

In this way it is like other verbs of perception like see and hear.

Thus, the following are all correct.

They watched the boys walk up the street.
They watched the boys walki

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Hasibul Alam“The two of them looked out, to where I am now, and they watched two boys walk up the street”

Read CJ's post.

Here is a variation of the sentence with the past form of "walk". It makes a dependent clause rather than a catenative structure. The meaning is different.

The two of them looked out, to where I am now, and they watched

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