Friday, May 15, 2020
French Verbs of Perception Follow Their Own Drum Beat
French verbs of perception are verbs that, logically enough, indicate a perception or sensation. There are six common French verbs of perception:    apercevoir to catch a glimpse of   à ©couter  to listen to   entendre  to hear   regarder  to watch   sentir  to feel   voir  to see Verbs of perception and sensation may be followed by a noun or an infinitive. Note that in this construction, the French infinitive following the verb of perception is often translated into English as a present participle.For example:   Japerà §ois un arbre.I see (a glimpse of) a tree.    Japerà §ois tomber un arbre.I see (a glimpse of) a tree falling.   Jà ©coute les enfants.Im listening to the children.    Jà ©coute parler les enfants.Im listening to the children talking.    Jentends les à ©tudiants.I hear the students.Jentends arriver les à ©tudiants.I hear the students arriving.    Je regarde là ©quipe.Im watching the team.    Je regarde jouer là ©quipe.Im watching the team play.    Je sens le vent.I feel the wind.Je sens souffler le vent.I feel the wind blowing.    Je vois le chien.I see the dog.Je vois courir le chien.I see the dog running. Word Order With Verbs of Perception Word order with French verbs of perception depends on whether the infinitive has a subject and/or object and whether these are nouns or pronouns. How do you know whether the noun or pronoun that precedes the verb is the subject or the direct object? If the noun or pronoun is the person or thing performing the action of the infinitive, it is the subject of the infinitive. If the person or pronoun is not performing the action but rather is being performed by the infinitive, it is the direct object. When the infinitive has either a subject pronoun or object pronoun, it must be placed in front of the main verb. Subject    Jentends les enfants arriver.(I hear the children arriving.)Je les entends arriver.Je regarde la fille à ©crire.(I see the girl writing.)Je la regarde à ©crire. Object    Jentends lire lhistoire.(I hear the story being read.)Je lentends lire.    Je vois coudre une robe.(I see the dress being sewn.)Je la vois coudre. If the infinitive has a non-pronoun direct object and no subject, it must be placed after the infinitive.    Jentends lire lhistoire.(I hear the story being read.)    Je vois coudre une robe.(I see the dress being sewn.)    Je regarde nettoyer la chambre.(Im watching the room being cleaned.) If the infinitive has a non-pronoun subject and no object, the subject can be placed either before or after the infinitive.    Jentends les enfants arriver.Jentends arriver les enfants.(I hear the children arriving.)    Je regarde la fille à ©crire.Je regarde à ©crire la fille.(Im watching the girl write.)    Je sens le vent souffler.Je sens souffler le vent.(I feel the wind blowing.) If the infinitive has a non-pronoun subject as well as an object, you must place the subject in front of the infinitive and the object after it.    Jentends les enfants casser le jouet.(I hear the children breaking the toy.)    Je regarde le monsieur à ©crire une lettre.(Im watching the man write a letter.)    Je sens le vent caresser ma peau.(I feel the wind caressing my skin.) If the subject is a pronoun (a.), it precedes the conjugated verb. If the object is a pronoun (b.), it precedes the infinitive.    a. Je les entends casser le jouet.(I hear them breaking the toy.)b. Jentends les enfants le casser.(I hear the children breaking it.)    a. Je le regarde à ©crire une lettre.(Im watching him write a letter.)b. Je regarde un monsieur là ©crire.(Im watching a man write it.)    a. Je le sens caresser ma peau.(I feel it caressing my skin.) b. Je sens le vent la caresser.(I feel the wind caressing it.) If both the subject and object are pronouns, you must place the subject in front of the main verb and the object after it.    Je les entends le casser.(I hear them breaking it.)    Je le regarde là ©crire.(Im watching him write it.)    Je le sens la caresser(I feel it caressing it.) Agreement With Verbs of Perception The rules of agreement for verbs of perception in the compound tenses are a bit different than for other verbs. Rather than agreeing with the direct object, as for most verbs conjugated with avoir in the compound tenses, verbs of perception only require agreement when the subject precedes the verb. How do you know whether the noun or pronoun that precedes the verb is the subject or the direct object? If it is the person or thing performing the action of the infinitive, it is the subject of the infinitive and follows agreement rule 1 below. If it is not performing the action but rather is being performed on by the infinitive, it is the direct object and follows rule 2 below. 1. If the subject of the infinitive precedes the verb of perception, there is agreement:    Jai vu tomber la fille.I saw the girl fall.La fille que jai vue tomber.Je lai vue tomber.    Jai regardà ©Ã‚ les enfants à ©crire.I watched the children write.Les enfants que jai regardà ©s à ©crire.Je les ai regardà ©s à ©crire.    Jai entendu arriver les à ©tudiants.I watched the students arrive.Les à ©tudiants que jai entendus arriver.Je les ai entendus arriver. 2. There is no agreement with the direct object of the infinitive.    Jai vu les enfants à ©crire les lettres.(Enfants is the subject; lettres is the direct object. Even if we leave out enfants, lettres is still the direct object, so there is no agreement.)Jai vu à ©crire les lettres.I saw the letters get writtenLes lettres que jai vu à ©crire.Je les ai vu à ©crire.    Jai entendu le monsieur lire une histoire.(Monsieur is the subject; histoire is the direct object.)Jai entendu lire une histoireI heard a story get read.Lhistoire que jai entendu lire.Je lai entendu lire.    Jai à ©coutà © une fille chanter les cantiques.(Fille is the subject; cantiques is the direct object.)Jai à ©coutà © chanter les cantiques.I listened to the hymns (get) sung.Les cantiques que jai à ©coutà © chanter.Je les ai à ©coutà © chanter.
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