see somebody did something or doing something?

Nick   Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:32 am GMT
Should I say I saw him crying or I saw him cried?
Guest   Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:12 am GMT
"I saw him cried" sounds strange to me. I personally prefer "I saw him crying." (Inland North East US English)

That being said, perhaps the dialects that use "The car needs washed." might also accept "I saw him cried."?
Russconha   Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:23 am GMT
The car needs washed makes no sense in British English.

The car needs washing, the guest needs to be corrected, the car needs to be washed, I SAW HIM CRYING.
Guest   Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:54 am GMT
Even as an American I totally agree with Russconha.


"I saw him cried" is completely wrong. You have to say "I saw him crying"


The car needs washed makes no sense in American English either. You can say "The card needs to be washed" or "The car needs a wash".


American English isn't THAT different.
Lazar   Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:02 am GMT
Constructions like "The car needs washed" are found in a few parts of North America and in Scottish English; but nonetheless they would strike most Americans and British people as ungrammatical.
guest   Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:54 pm GMT
I saw him crying
OR
I saw him cry

"I saw him cried" would generally mean (in standard English) "I saw that he had been cried" which in this case makes no sense. However, in another example such as "I saw him washing"/"I saw him wash"/"I saw him washed" it would work, but "I saw him washed" doesn't mean the same thing. It's passive.
nick   Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:29 am GMT
So "I saw him crying" is right, can I say "I saw him cry"?
Guest   Tue Feb 05, 2008 4:45 am GMT
No way!
Guest   Tue Feb 05, 2008 4:49 am GMT
Sorry, that's "no way" to "I saw him cried." I am a native speaker and I've even lived in those shocking areas where someone may have said that "the car needs washed.", but no way to that expression with "cried." Other opinions accepted.
some guy   Tue Feb 05, 2008 7:47 pm GMT
"I saw him cried." makes no sense whatsoever, imo.

"The car needs washed" works if it includes "to be" in it. However, it doesn`t sound too strange to me if one were to say " this needs washed". It`s unclear to me if "this needs washed" is as ungrammatical as " the car needs washed".
Guest   Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:29 pm GMT
<<The car needs washed makes no sense in American English either.>>

It makes sense to everybody here.