Verb patterns · CEFR B2 · Confident
I saw him go / going — English verb patterns
The plain verb means you saw the whole thing; -ing means you saw part of it while it was going on.
The shape
see / hear / watch + object + plain verb or -ing
Report what you saw or heard, precisely.
In Hindi
सादी क्रिया यानी पूरा काम देखा; -ing यानी होते हुए का कुछ हिस्सा देखा।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The mistake to fix first
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
I saw him to leave the building. | I saw him leave the building. After see, hear and watch there is no "to". |
Learn these first
These come first. The rest of this makes more sense once they are automatic.
Questions people ask
- What is the i saw him go / going used for?
- The plain verb means you saw the whole thing; -ing means you saw part of it while it was going on. In practice: report what you saw or heard, precisely.
- How do you form the i saw him go / going?
- see / hear / watch + object + plain verb or -ing.
- What is the most common mistake with the i saw him go / going?
- Saying “I saw him to leave the building.” instead of “I saw him leave the building.”. After see, hear and watch there is no "to".
Where i saw him go / going fits
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
I saw him go / going is a CEFR B2 structure — the confident band — and it belongs to verb patterns. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
Reading it is not the same as saying it.
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