Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Navid]

Hello Teachers,

Is this sentence correct?"I heard him sing" If yes, What is the difference between "I heard him sing and I heard him singing"?

Thanks in advance,
Navid

[Corey]

In reality there is very little difference. You can say "I heard him sing the opera" or " I heard him singing the opera".

Grammatically, "I heard him sing" - the verb sing uses the "simple form". The sentence "I heard him singing" - the verb uses the present participle. Some people would say this indicates that the action (singing) is more ongoing instead of a single completed action in the past (for example the singing took place over a long period of time).

Good luck,

Corey
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