Representing thinking, perceiving, liking and desiring (Using verb patterns to represent perceptions) (p. 3)

Representing thinking, perceiving, liking and desiring

Using verb patterns to represent perceptions

page 3 of 13

Grammatical patterns associated with the phenomenon

Verbs associated with perceptions may be followed by a range of different structures. The commonest (and therefore most useful to teach first) are:

1.	a noun group , representing the thing which is perceived, tasted, felt, seen, etc:
	Starry-eyed young girls were seen gazing up at the lit hotel windows well past their bed time in the vain hope of seeing their idols. (SCMP 14/9/92)
2.	a that clause which typically represents the fact which is sensed, noticed, discovered, etc:
	The police subsequently discovered that she had had numerous telephone conversations with him and paid him large sums of money under a false name through a Swiss bank account. (Microconcord Corpus A)
3.	an object and a bare infinitive clause which represents the event which is watched, noticed, felt, etc:
	I felt it go through the skin and muscle quite smoothly with no problem at all. (Bank of English)
4.	an object and an -ing form which represents the event which is spotted, noticed, seen, etc:
	The measure would make it no easier to spot tourists buying a few discs over the border, knowing they were fakes, he said. (SCMP 10/5/94)
Other less common structures include the following:
5.	a wh-clause which is related to a wh-question, and which represents some kind of fact which is recognised, noticed, discovered, etc:
	Young readers can discover how birds steer* while they are flying. (Bank of English)*
6.	an if/whether clause, typically related to a yes/no question, which represents the fact which is seen, judged, identified, etc:
	Customs officers raiding game stores could easily identify whether copying was taking place. (SCMP 21/4/94)
7.	an object and an adjective (or an -ed participle clause) which represents the event which is watched, felt, discovered, etc:
	A warden …broke into the flat to discover him dead in his bed. (Bank of English)
The rest of this file contains further information about the verbs which are associated with each of these grammatical structures.

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