I have a few questions, and I was hoping you could help me clear my mind
Would you say, “I was watching her dance,” or “I was watching her dancing”?
Would you say, “I was watching you sleep,” or “I was watching you sleeping?”
Would you say, ”they were watching them argue, ” ”they were watching them arguing,” or “they watched them argue/arguing”?
And lastly, would you say, ”I’ve never heard you laugh before,” or ”I’ve never heard you laughing before?”
Thank you in advance :)
With verbs of perception, both the infinitive and the V-ing work. The main difference is that, depending on the verb used, the infinitive may refer to the whole action while the present participle describes a moment during the performance of the action, for example:
I saw him cross the street (the whole process)
I saw him crossing the street (in the middle of the street, as he was crossing)
I heard her sing a song (the complete song)
I heard her singing a song (part of the song)
When the verb of perception is in a progressive tense (sentences 1, 2, 3), the momentary nature of the action after the object is conveyed by the verb of perception itself, and both the infinitive and V-ing work. However, the difference pointed out above is lost. What was watched was, respectively, only part of the dance, nap or argument.
