Grammar · Verb Patterns: -ing & Infinitives
Perception Verbs (See Him Do vs See Him Doing)
See him do or see him doing? Learn how verbs like see, hear and watch show how much of an action you noticed, with the film The Prestige.
Grammar › Verb Patterns: -ing & Infinitives › Perception Verbs (See Him Do vs See Him Doing)
The rule in one sentenceAfter verbs like see, hear and watch, use object + base verb when you notice a whole action from start to finish, and object + -ing when you notice only part of an action that is already in progress.
About the film
The Prestige is a 2006 thriller by Christopher Nolan, set among stage magicians in London at the end of the nineteenth century. Two young magicians, Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, start out as assistants in the same show, alongside John Cutter, an engineer who designs illusions. Night after night, crowds watch them performing, but the two men soon become bitter rivals, and each one is desperate to see the other fail.
What does it do?
The film opens with a simple question: Are you watching closely? It is the perfect question for this lesson, because English gives you two ways to report what your eyes and ears picked up. Both are correct, but they tell your listener different things about how much you noticed.
With object + base verb, you claim the whole event: you saw it begin and you saw it end. With object + -ing, you only caught a slice of it: the action was already happening when you noticed, and it may have continued after you looked away. The base verb here never takes to, and it never changes for the past.
In the first two tiles, the walk and the clapping are complete: they started and finished while someone was paying attention. In the last two, the queuing and the whispering were already going on; the speaker simply caught them in the middle.
I saw the magician cross the stage. (from one side to the other – the whole action)
I saw the magician crossing the stage. (he was halfway across when I looked up)
Same man, same stage, same moment in the show. The only difference is how much of the action the speaker actually witnessed.
Visual guide
Teacher Teddy’s illustrated guide to this rule is being drawn — the full swipe-through infographic will appear here soon.
How to make it
object + base verb — the whole action
The audience watched Angier bow at the end.
Cutter didn’t hear anyone leave the theatre.
didn’t + see / hear + object + base verbDid you see Borden take a card from the pack?
Did + subject + see + object + base verbobject + -ing — part of the action
Before the show, we could hear the crowd talking.
Borden didn’t notice anyone watching him.
didn’t + notice + object + verb-ingCan you see the stage lights flashing?
Can + subject + see + object + verb-ingWhen to use each one
object + base verb
object + -ing
Words that help: whole action or part of it?
The verbs in this family are see, hear, watch, notice, feel, observe, listen to and overhear. The words around them often tell you which pattern to choose.
object + base verb → you saw it all
object + -ing → you caught it in the middle
Common mistakes
❌ The audience watched Angier to bow.
✅ The audience watched Angier bow.
After see, hear or watch + object, the base verb never takes to.
❌ I heard Cutter explains the rules of a trick.
✅ I heard Cutter explain the rules of a trick.
After the object, the verb stays in its base form, with no -s and no -ed.
❌ Borden was seen leave the theatre early.
✅ Borden was seen leaving the theatre early.
In the passive, the base verb alone is impossible, so use -ing or to + base verb.
❌ You could smell the oil lamps burn.
✅ You could smell the oil lamps burning.
Smell only works with the -ing pattern, never with the base verb.
One more thing
This part is a little harder. You can come back to it later.
In the passive, the base verb picks up to. When you turn these sentences round, the -ing form stays exactly as it was, but the base verb suddenly needs to in front of it. This is one of the few places in English where the passive changes the shape of the second verb, and it appears often in news reports and formal writing.
✅ Someone saw Borden leave early. → Borden was seen to leave early. (the whole action)
✅ Someone saw Borden leaving early. → Borden was seen leaving early. (caught in the act)
Hear works in the same way: The crowd was heard to cheer. It sounds quite formal, so in conversation most people simply use the active.
Practice: choose the right form
Eight questions. Choose one answer. You get the answer, and why.
1. The audience watched Angier ___ at the end of the show.
After watch + object, use the base verb with no to.
2. I saw Borden ___ the stage in three quick steps.
Three quick steps is the whole action, from start to finish → base verb.
3. Through the window, you can see the rain ___ on the street.
Can see usually takes -ing, and the rain was already falling.
4. Borden was seen ___ the theatre early.
In the passive, the base verb alone is impossible → leaving (or to leave).
5. You can almost smell the oil lamps ___.
Smell only works with -ing.
6. Did you hear Cutter ___ the rules of the trick?
After hear + object, the verb stays in its base form.
7. I only looked up for a second, but I saw a man ___ notes.
A quick look catches the action in the middle → -ing.
8. We watched the magician ___ onto the stage, bow and begin.
A series of complete actions → base verb for each one.
Your turn
Choose one ending. Then listen to your sentence.
Every sentence here is correct. The first frame shows whole actions; the second shows sounds already in progress. Say it out loud too!
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