Him talk/his talking
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Message from jandark posted on 11-05-2015 at 11:31:38 (D | E | F)
Hello ,
doing tests on this website I found a questionable sentence .
It is : "But I've never heard him talk in English . " Is it really grammatically correct ? I would write in another two ways :
"...heard his talk in English " or "......heard him talking in English ."
Please clarify my understanding of these things .
Thanks for your help in advance.
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Edited by lucile83 on 11-05-2015 19:17
Message from jandark posted on 11-05-2015 at 11:31:38 (D | E | F)
Hello ,
doing tests on this website I found a questionable sentence .
It is : "But I've never heard him talk in English . " Is it really grammatically correct ? I would write in another two ways :
"...heard his talk in English " or "......heard him talking in English ."
Please clarify my understanding of these things .
Thanks for your help in advance.
-------------------
Edited by lucile83 on 11-05-2015 19:17
Re: Him talk/his talking from gerondif, posted on 11-05-2015 at 13:19:07 (D | E)
Hello,
there are two possible constructions after verbs of perception such as see, hear.
1) You were here when the action took place and you saw or heard everything:
He attacked the old lady and threw her on the ground.
I saw him attack her. I saw him throw her on the ground.I heard her scream.
2) You weren't here at the beginning of the action and you only saw part of it.
Whan I arrived, they were fighting and shouting.
I saw them fighting! I heard them shouting.
"But I've never heard him talk in English . " seems correct to me all the more so as the action never happened.
I never saw him work.
"I've never heard his talk in English " here, talk is a noun the meaning is different a bit like
I've never heard his voice in English.
I've never heard a speech of his in English.
I've never heard him talking in English ." can be correct: I never bumped on him as he was speaking in English.
I heard him talk in English is global.
I heard him talking in English is more a testimony, you swear you heard him talking in English !!
Something else now:
I like him talking: present participle: I like him when he is talking, he has such a presence!
I like his talking, I like John's elegant talking: gerund, verb transformed into a noun and liable to accept an adjective, a possessive adjective,: I like the way he speaks.
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