Learn French 100% free Get 1 free lesson per week // Add a new lesson
Log in!

> Log in <
New account
Millions of accounts created on our sites.
JOIN our free club and learn French now!




Get a free French lesson every week!

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Print
  • Guestbook
  • Report a bug


  •  



    Him talk/his talking

    Forum > English only || Bottom

    [POST A NEW REPLY] [Subscribe to this topic]


    Him talk/his talking
    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.





    [POST A NEW REPLY] [Subscribe to this topic]


    Forum > English only