Hi, I am tutoring someone who had a question about the sentence “I heard a window break.”
I know this is correct, but why is it not “I heard a window broke.” ?
Usually the object clause follows the tense of the main clause:
“I heard you were sick.”
“I hear you are sick.”
“I knew she was lying.”
“I know she is lying.”
Why does there seem to be an exception for “I heard a window break.”?
Luschen,
‘I heard a window break.’
In this sentence ‘break’ is a noun.
We can also say “I heard (that) a window had broken.”
‘a window break’ is a noun phrase.
“I heard (that) you were sick.” is simply written as “I heard you were sick.”
I believe that I have explained correctly.
I appreciate your efforts to teach us.
It is very good effort to teach the students of our forum.
Thanks.
When “hear” is a so-called verb of perception – in other words when it means “perceive sound by the ear”, it is followed by object + bare infinitive (i.e. without to) or by object + verb in -ing.
I heard a window break/breaking.
I heard my sister unlock the door and walk out/unlocking the door and walking out.
When “hear” means “be told” or “learn”, then it can take a that-clause just as in your other examples.
I heard (that) a window broke. = I learned/was told that a window broke.
I heard (that) you were sick. = I learned/was told that you were sick.
Cutting to the chase, it’s all about denoting a complete act: DId you hear a dog bark? OR: I watched you cross the street. I heard a window break = I heard how a window broke.
no
‘I heard a window break’ means I heard the sound of (a window)(glass) breaking.
From the sources I consulted (more than one, believe me), it just meant that the action was complete.
“I heard the sound of (a window)(glass) breaking” (continuous action) could be translated by the pattern of, “I heard a window breaking\a dog barking (all night)”.
[color=blue]Native speakers will usually say ‘I heard a window break.’ That is because native speakers always like shortcuts and because the sound of a window breaking doesn’t last a long time. But they will say ‘heard a dog barking’ unless there were only a few barks.