Spanish perception verbs followed by the infinitive
When we want to express "to see/hear/listen to someone do something", the verbs of perception ver, oír and escuchar can be followed by an infinitive. By using the infinitive we perceive this action as completed and not as an action in progress.
- If the infinitive is intransitive (i.e. it has no direct object) then this is the natural order of the sentence:
Ver / oír / escuchar (conjugated) + infinitive + a [person]
For example:
Vi + llegar + a Marta
If there is extra information after the infinitive, making it a longer sentence, then the order tends to change to:
Ver, oír, escuchar (conjugated) + a [person] + infinitive + extra info
Vi + a Marta + llegar + muy asustada a la casa
Bear in mind that, if the sentence uses a pronoun to refer to the person that is seen, heard or listened to, this pronoun is a direct object pronoun. The placement of the pronoun is always before the conjugated verb:
I saw Marta arrive = I saw her arrive
La + vi + llegar
We cannot place the direct object pronoun referring to the person who is seen, heard or listened to anywhere else in the sentence.
If the direct object is referring to "singular male", we can use "lo" or "le". Remember that the use of le as a direct object is accepted if it refers to singular male (but not female nor any plural)
I saw Antonio arrive = I saw him arrive
Lo and le are both correct for "him".
- If the infinitive is a transitive verb (it has a direct object) this is the natural order of the sentence:
Ver, oír, escuchar (conjugated) + a [person] + infinitive + direct object
or
Le/lo/la/los/ + ver, oír, escuchar (conjugated) + infinitive + direct object
For example:
Spanish perception verbs followed by the gerund
The verbs of perception ver, oír and escuchar can be followed by a gerund to express "to see/hear someone doing something". When we use the gerund instead of the infinitive we express and put the focus on the progress of the action. Look at these examples:
When using the structure with the gerund sometimes the subject of the action may be ambiguous, for example:
Here, it is not clear who was doing the singing. The person I heard singing could be the person in the shower or it could be "me".
The natural order to follow with the structure using the gerund is also:
Ver, oír, escuchar (conjugated) + a [person] + gerund + extra info
or
Le/lo/la/los/ + ver, oír, escuchar (conjugated) + gerund + direct object/extra info
If it is a short sentence, the gerund can also be placed in front of the person doing the action expressed by the gerund:
But if this sentence had extra information, then we tend to mention the person before the action:
Remember: The difference between using the infinitive or the gerund:
- the infinitive refers to an action that is seen or heard as "complete"
- the gerund indicates an action "in progress"
He visto a Carlos fumar.
I saw Carlos smoke. (complete action)
He visto a Carlos fumando.
I saw Carlos smoking. (action in progress)
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