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special verbs (watched/watch, hear/heard)



 
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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
across vs over vs along vs through | some vague phrases (liquid from the vial was pure alcohol, etc.)
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special verbs (watched/watch, hear/heard) #1 (permalink) Sat Mar 15, 2008 23:45 pm   special verbs (watched/watch, hear/heard)
 

hello,

I'm confused in regards to using special verbs such as help, let, make, watch, etc.

I was told that when special verbs are used, a present tense must be used. For example,

Watched/watch him run (always "run" and never "ran")
Hear/heard the car drive off (never drove)

I'm finding that this is not always the case in the following situations

I heard you took off
I heard you left

Can someone please explain to me how to use special verbs and why these two examples differ?
Ched133
I'm here quite often ;-)


Joined: 05 Mar 2008
Posts: 107

special verbs (watched/watch, hear/heard) #2 (permalink) Sun Mar 16, 2008 1:04 am   special verbs (watched/watch, hear/heard)
 

.
In the first instance, the verb is not present tense; it is the bare infinitive (the infinitive with no 'to'): I watched him run; I helped her (to) finish her project.

In the second instance, the verb is part of a subordinate clause with omitted 'that': I heard (that) you took off.

Both structures are common in English.
.
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across vs over vs along vs through | some vague phrases (liquid from the vial was pure alcohol, etc.)
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