break, breaks, or broke?

Question

Here is a sentence from BBC Learning English:

And I saw that ship break in half.

Is this a correct sentence? I think I should use broke. Am I wrong?

You are wrong. A verb following saw, heard, watched (for example) is in the infinitive. — Kate Bunting, Nov 05 '20 at 16:01
Sense verbs can take either gerund or infinitive complements. But broke is past tense and breaks is present tense, not either a gerund (breaking) or an infinitive (break). — John Lawler, Nov 05 '20 at 16:12

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 05 '20 at 18:03

0

To see a ship break in half is to see the destruction of the ship in action.

To see a ship that broke in half is to see a ship after the destruction happened.

edited Nov 05 '20 at 18:03

user11111111111

answered Nov 05 '20 at 15:15

re you here

1

The second example isn't spot on. You may fix it by adding "that". – Nov 05 '20 at 15:20
I would prefer broken in half. – Yosef Baskin Nov 05 '20 at 17:24

1 Answers1