Unit I. Appearance and character grammar: complex object. Adverbial clauses of time

II. After the verbs of sense perception, such as see, watch, notice, observe, hear, listen to, feel, either the Infinitive without «to» or Present Participle
(-ing form) is used in the complex object. The Infinitive expresses a complete action, whereas the ing-form (Participle I) expresses an incomplete action, i.e. action in progress, e.g.
I saw (what?) her cross the street.
Я видел (что?), как/что она перешла улицу.
I saw (what?) her crossing the street.
Я видел (что?), как/что она переходила улицу.

The verb smell is normally used with an –ing form, e.g.

I smell something burning in the kitchen.
Я чувствую, что в кухне что-то горит.

If we witness a succession of actions, we use the Infinitive, e.g.

I saw (what?) the child take a step and fall.
Я видел (что?), как ребенок сделал шаг и упал.


NOTE: Sometimes the verbs see, feel, hear are not verbs of sense perception, they have a different meaning. In this case no Complex Object is used, we can only use a subordinate object clause, e.g.
I see (=understand) that he doesn’t want to go there.
Я видел (=понимал), что он не хочет туда ехать.
I felt (= realized) that he wasn’t telling the truth.
Я чувствовал (=понимал), что он лжет.

I hear (= know) that you’ve just come from London.

Я слышал (=имею сведения), что вы только-что приехали из Лондона.
Ex. 43. Translate into Russian.

1. I saw him looking for his pen. 2. I heard him make arrangements for his journey. 3. We wanted to listen to them talking about their holidays.

4. I watched them rehearsing the play. 5. I felt that he didn’t understand me.
6. Didn’t you hear the clock striking? 7. I felt the car skidding. 8. I hear he has passed his exams. 9. The police noticed him entering the bank with a shotgun. 10. I saw him enter the room, unlock a drawer, take out a document, photograph it and put it back. 11. I hear her father has died. 12. We heard a voice singing a tune. 13. I smelt something burning downstairs. 14. I saw that she didn’t realize the danger. 15. You can watch me riding a horse from here. 16. They observed tourists buying souvenirs at the stands. 17. I could hear him whispering something to his companion. 18. You must come and listen to her singing. 19. I felt my heart sink.