2 verbs

Share on Facebook

kynguyen

#36701 Fri, 09 Jul 04 09:46 PM

Hi again,
I am not sure how to use the phrase correctly.
For ex:
I saw the cat jump on the table.
I saw the cat jumped on the table.
They are both past tense because I "saw", right? Which way is correct?

Or can I say:
I saw the cat jumping on the table.

Thanks,
Ky

kynguyen

Joined on Fri, Jul 2 2004

New Member (35)

dino95126

#36716 Sat, 10 Jul 04 02:26 AM

The first one is correct: I saw the cat jump on the table. You only use the verb "see" in the past tense; the verb jump is actually in the infinitive form (without the preposition "to").

"I saw the cat jumped on the table" is wrong, and should not be used.

"I saw the cat jumping on the table" is correct, but its meaning is very slightly different. It means that the cat was already there (on the table), and at the time you looked over there, it happened to be jumping (up and down). "I saw the cat jump on the table," on the other hand, means that, at the moment you looked, the cat jumped (presumably from somewhere else--the floor, the refrigerator, etc.) onto the table.

dino95126

Joined on Sat, Jul 10 2004

San Jose, California, USA

New Member (16)

Verbs, Prepositions, Tenses, Past Tenses

miriam

#36736 Sat, 10 Jul 04 06:32 AM

Hi again, Kynguyen Smile [:)]

Actually, all three sentences are correct.

Sentence #2, "I saw the cat jumped on the table" is correct if you think of it as a sentence with a finite dependent clause in which "that" has been omitted:

"I saw (that) the cat jumped on the table."

Sentence #1, "I saw the cat jump on the table": this sentence simply states that the cat jumped on the table and you saw it.

Sentence #3, "I saw the cat jumping on the table": in this sentence you are stressing the fact that the action was taking place when you saw it. You saw the cat at the very moment it was jumping.

Miriam