Hola Eladio,

Please, help me on this. I understand the constructs:

a) I saw him walk along the street. (= He walked along and I saw him)

b) I saw him walking along the street. (= He was walking along and I saw him)

My doubts begin with other sentences, mainly negatives and questions in this kind of constructs:

First doubt: Can I say?

1.1 “Did Peter see Susan cook?” (= Susan cooked, Peter saw her did that, and I’m questioning somebody if Peter saw it) Yes

1.2 “Did Peter see Susan cooking?” (= Susan was cooking, Peter saw her doing that, and I’m questioning somebody if Peter saw that) Yes

2.1 “Did Peter see the accident happen?” (= The accident happened, Peter saw it and I’m questioning somebody if Peter saw it) Yes

2.2 “Did Peter see the accident happening?”

I think this “2.2” “ing” question is wrong, because the verb “to happen” cannot be used in this context. But if this “2.2” construct is possible, what’s the meaning of this question? Could you use other words to say the same, please?  This seems OK to me. Peter was watching while the accident was happening.  'Did Peter see the accident happen?' Sinc, generally speaking, most accidents have a short duration, I think the continuous would be used less often.

Second doubt: Could I say?

3.1 I didn’t hear you come in. (You came in and I did not hear you) Yes

3.2 I didn’t hear you coming in. (You were coming in and I did not hear you) Yes. Very similar to 3.1 

4.1 She noticed her little boy drink a beer. (The little boy drank a beer and she noticed that) Yes. (A slightly odd example, as she would normally intervene and stop the act of drinking)

4.2 She noticed her little boy drinking a beer. (The little boy was drinking a beer and she noticed that)Yes

Third doubt:

Is it not better to say, with the same meaning and instead of “4.1”: She noticed her little boy drank a beer? The past tense here focuses a bit more on the drinking as an act in the past. In short, it somewhat implies she had no concern about the fact that her little boy might be developing bad habits.

Is it not better to say, with the same meaning and instead of “Liz felt something touch her on the hand”: Liz felt something touched her on the hand? Similar comment to the above. The past tense merely 'records'. 'Felt something touch' puts us in the moment with Liz. She screams, and the reader 'screams' with her.

Fourth doubt:

“I found my dog eating my lunch”. But I cannot find an example for this kind of constructs with the verb “to find” and the other verb in infinitive. Could you help me?:

'I found my dog to eat my lunch.' This means I found my dog because I wanted it then to eat my lunch. Or possibly I wanted to eat my dog for lunch. Clearly these are rather odd meanings.

Best wishes, Clive

Hi,

Yes, I did.

Clive

Thank you Clive for your comment. Now my doubts about this:

1.- You gave me the example: I found my dog to eat my lunch. Okay, but could I say: I found my dog eat my lunch. What that means?

2.- You and me wrote: Third doubt. Is it not better to say, with the same meaning and instead of “4.1”: She noticed her little boy drank a beer? The past tense here focuses a bit more on the drinking as an act in the past. In short, it somewhat implies she had no concern about the fact that her little boy might be developing bad habits.

Then, is it correct to say, for example: She noticed that her husband bought her a new car for her birthday, but she said nothing until today. Or, following the rules, have I to say: She noticed her husband buy her a new car for her birthday, but she said nothing until today.

3.- You and me wrote: 4.1 She noticed her little boy drink a beer. (The little boy drank a beer and she noticed that) Yes. (A slightly odd example, as she would normally intervene and stop the act of drinking)

Then, would be correct to say: She noticed her little boy drink a beer but she doesn’t care. I don’t understand, she didn’t intervene nor stop her boy. Or:

She noticed her little boy drinking a beer. These mooodern-day boys and mothers…!

4.- I can say: What do you advise me to do? But can I say:  What do you advise doing in this situation.

Eladio

Okay, Clive. Thank you again. And again you have put me to think about all this. I hope I'll get it this time.

Eladio