Representing thinking, perceiving, liking and desiring

Using verb patterns to represent perceptions

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A note on the order of participants

With verbs related to perception, the most common order of participants is illustrated in the following example:

Never use colour film unless you notice the colours in the scene.                                              perceiver                     phenomenon

With some perception verbs, it is possible to represent the same idea using a related verb, but with the order of participants reversed:

Never use colour film unless the colours in the scene jump out at you.                                                                         phenomenon                                            perceiver

Note that only a very few perception verbs take this pattern. Here are some pairs, with examples:

I hear = the noise bombards/assails/assaults me

I hear bland, mundane pap (as opposed to pop) on our national radio station.

Our national radio station bombards us with bland, mundane pap (as opposed to pop). (Bank of English)

I notice = it jumps out at me

There's an old adage that says you should never use colour film unless you (really) notice the colours in the scene.

There's an old adage that says you should never use colour film unless the colours in the scene jump out at you. (Bank of English)

Introduction
Participants associated with perception verbs
Grammatical patterns associated with the phenomenon
Verb followed by a noun group
Verb followed by a that clause
Verb followed by an object and the bare infinitive
Verb followed by an object and the -ing form
Verb followed by a wh-clause
Verb followed by an if/whether clause
Verb followed by an object and an adjective/-ed participle clause
Ellipsis with perception verbs
Present simple v present continuous tense
A note on the order of participants