Maybe I should always use the infinitive. That would severely simplify things. I guess the romance languages have one up on the germanic-based languages. Oh, and doesn't she mean "lend"? > From: Noelle <http://dummy.us.eu.org/noelleg> > Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2014 11:15:41 -0700 (PDT) > > > From: H <http://www.gmail.com/~h40> > > Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2014 10:14:33 -0700 > > > > Interesting, these verbs take an infinitive in French. > > > > I have the book - I didn?t loan it to Vera. hlh > > > > On Jun 7, 2014, at 9:15 AM, Noelle <http://dummy.us.eu.org/noelleg> wrote: > > > Oh, the things Robert is pondering.(the class I'm taking at Stanford is > > > about evolution of English) > > > > > > Also, do you have Pussy Riot book? I know someone who is interested in it. > > > > > > It's OK if Vera has it,but if not you can return it tomorrow. > > > > > > From: http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert (Robert) > > > Date: June 7, 2014 at 8:58:19 AM PDT > > > > > > So, here's my problem. > > > > > > The object of these sentences are actions, as far as I can tell: > > > > > > * I watch birds fly > > > * I see dogs run > > > * I feel the earth shake > > > * I have the machine compute > > > * I hear the kids play > > > > > > These are present tense sentences where the object is also a present tense > > > action. > > > > > > Also, turning these into past tense leaves the present tense intact. > > > > > > * I watched birds fly > > > * I saw dogs run > > > * I felt the earth shake > > > * I had the machine compute > > > * I heard the kids play > > > > > > My question is, why are these being and sensing verbs the only (as far as > > > I know) verbs that have this property? Other verbs require an infinitive > > > for the object actions or a verb followed by a conjunction. > > > > > > * I acknowledge the tides turning > > > * I know that the keyboard sucks