VOA慢速英语2019--Verbs of Perception

 

Imagine that you want to describe an experience. You want to talk about how you perceived² something – in other words, what you saw, heard, or felt.

In our report today, we will explore the grammar of perception³.

Specifically⁴, we will explore what grammar experts might call “verbs of perception.” These are words that describe actions related⁵ to our senses – seeing, hearing and listening, for example.

Betty Azar is an expert on English grammar. In her book Understanding and Using English Grammar, she notes that English speakers often use verbs of perception before two other verb forms: the simple form and the form ending with –ing.

Similar meaning

Azar adds that the two verb forms that follow verbs of perception can sometimes have a similar meaning.*

As an example, let us consider a line from a famous movie -- 2001: A Space Odyssey⁶. In the film, a computer named HAL says the following words:

"Dave, although you took very thorough⁷ precautions⁹ in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move."

In this example, the verb see is the verb of perception. The simple form of the verb move follows it.

Although HAL said “I could see your lips move,” it could have said, “I could see your lips moving.” The two statements are close in meaning.

Here is another example. Imagine a police detective is investigating a crime. The detective might ask people questions, like:

Detective: Did you see anything strange last night?

Witness: I saw a man run down the street.

Here the witness used the verb of perception see as well as the simple form of the verb run.

But their exchange could have been somewhat¹⁰ different, as we hear in this example:

Detective: Did you see anything strange last night?

Witness: I saw a man running down the street.

In this case, the –ing form of the verb comes after the verb of perception.

The first and second exchanges with the police detective are close in meaning.

However, at other times, there is a clear difference in meaning when English speakers use the –ing form after a verb of perception, as we will find.

Difference in meaning

Sometimes English speakers use the –ing form after a verb of perception to point out that an activity is taking place when it was perceived.

Here is an example. The following statements are about the American actor and humorist Dave Chappelle.

1: I saw Dave Chappelle perform a new act last week.

2: When I walked into the comedy club, I saw Dave Chappelle performing a new act.

In both statements, see is the verb of perception. In the first statement, the verb perform appears in its simple form. In the second statement, the verb perform appears in its –ing form.

In the first sentence, I saw Dave Chappelle perform a new act last week, the speaker gives the idea that she listened to all of Chappelle’s new act – from beginning to end.

In the second one, When I walked into the comedy club, I saw Dave Chappelle performing a new act, the speaker gives the idea that she entered the room when Chappelle was already performing. In other words, the speaker did not see the beginning of Chappelle’s act.

Other verbs of perception - examples

In the examples we presented today, we only used the verb of perception see. Other common verbs of perception include hear, feel, watch and notice.

So one could say:

“Last night, I heard a strange sound come from the closet.”

Or:

“Last night, I heard a strange sound coming from the closet.”

If you wanted to point out that an action was already taking place, you could say, for example, “When I woke up, I noticed my dog snoring loudly next to me.”

Closing thoughts

Today we showed you how English speakers use either simple forms or –ing forms after verbs of perception.

We showed you that sometimes the two forms have a similar meaning. At other times, they have a clear difference. The situation can give you an idea of the speaker’s meaning.

While this subject might seem difficult at first, you will quickly learn it with practice.

The next time you are watching English language movies or television shows, record examples of how the speakers use verbs of perception.

You might hear them use these verbs in regular, repeated ways.

I’m John Russell.

And I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

perceive¹ – v. to notice or become aware of (something)

grammar – n. the whole system and structure of a language

precaution⁸ – n. a measure taken to prevent something dangerous from happening; a safeguard¹¹

pod – n. a self-container vehicle or other device¹²

comedy club – n. a business where humorists perform

snore – v. to breathe noisily while sleeping

practice – n. the action of repeating an exercise in order to improve one’s understanding or skills

1 perceive   

vt.感知，感觉，察觉；意识到，理解

参考例句：

• Did you perceive a red colour or a green one?你看出来是红颜色还是绿颜色？
• I can't perceive any difference between these coins.我看不出这些硬币的区别。

2 perceived   

v.感觉( perceive的过去式和过去分词 )；视为；认为；理解为

参考例句：

• I perceived a change in his behaviour. 我注意到他举止有些改变。
• On entering his house, we at once perceived him to be tasteful. 我们一进他的房子，立刻感觉到他是个高品位的人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 perception   

n.感知，感觉，觉察(力)；认识，观念，看法

参考例句：

• What's your perception of the matter?你对此事有什么看法？
• He was a man of keen perception.他是一个感觉敏锐的人。

4 specifically   

adv.明确地，具体地；特别地，特意

参考例句：

• The book was written specifically for children.这本书是特地为儿童编写的。
• I told you specifically not to do that.我明确地告诉你不要那样做。

5 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

6 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

7 thorough   

adj. 彻底的，完全的，精心的

参考例句：

• He made a very thorough analysis on the situation.他对形势的分析很透彻。
• The committee reported its findings after a thorough investigation.委员会在彻底调查以后报告了调查结果。

8 precaution   

n.预防，防备，预防措施

参考例句：

• He took the precaution of locking his door when he went out.当他外出的时候谨慎地锁上门。
• I took the precaution of locking money in the safe.我把所有的钱都锁在保险箱里以防万一。

9 precautions   

n.预防措施( precaution的名词复数 )；防备；避孕措施

参考例句：

• You must take all reasonable precautions to protect yourself and your family. 你必须采取一切合理的预防措施，保护自己和家人。
• The Danes had selfconfidence of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual. 这些丹麦人具有征服者的自信，而且他们的安全防卫也是漫不经心的。 来自《用法词典》

10 somewhat   

pron.一些，某物；adv.多少，几分

参考例句：

• The cake we made was somewhat of a failure.我们做的蛋糕不大成功。
• The two office buildings are somewhat alike in appearance.这两座办公楼在外形上有点相似。

11 safeguard   

vt.保护，维护；n.预防措施，保证条款

参考例句：

• Keeping clean is a safeguard against disease.保持清洁是抵御疾病的防护措施。
• We must safeguard forest timber.我们必须保护森林。

12 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。