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Niwantha
"see him go" or "see him going"? Which is correct in the following context?
hi friends,
Which is correct in the following context? "see him go" or "see him going"? If you were to say it, how would you say?
1) We went to see his last football match and it was sad to see him go.
2) We went to see his last football match and it was sad to see him going.
Is it correct if I say " sad to see him went"??
Thanks in advance!
Niwantha
Jul 28, 2019 9:31 AM
Answers · 13
3
The only correct option here is "sad to see him go." To be "sad to see someone go" (or "sorry," or "glad," etc., to see them go) is sort of a fixed expression. It means that you are sorry that the person is leaving. It doesn't mean that you literally watched the person leave. If you find out that someone at your job is retiring, for example, you can tell the person, "I'm sorry to see you go." It means that you're sad that the person will not be working with you anymore.
If you want to say that you were sad to literally watch the person leave, then you'll need to say so more clearly ("It was sad to watch him walk away" / "It was sad to see him leave the field for the last time" / etc.). "It was sad to see him going" doesn't really make sense unless you add more information (e.g. "sad to see him going to work so early"). Otherwise, it sounds like you're trying to use the phrase "sad to see him go," but you've made a grammar mistake.
You can't say "see him went." In general, you can't use past tense after a direct object. You can see a dog run, or see a dog running, but you can never see a dog "ran." (You can see a dog THAT ran, or a person WHO went, but that changes the meaning of the sentence.)
July 28, 2019
2
He go
When a person does a thing like alway
Example: he go to school( becouse he do it always nd usally u must say : he go
He is going
When a person does a acting right now, you use this
He is going to school
He is eating
I am driving
He/ i do thier action exactly just this/ at this time
July 28, 2019
1
Both 1 and 2 are correct, but with slightly different meanings.
1......see him go.
In this case, you withnessed the whole process.
2......see him going.
Here you only withnessed a certain moment when he was going, and the action was not yet finished.
A more clear contrast would be:
"I saw him cross the street." (U saw him moving from one side ALL THE WAY to the other side of the street.)
"I saw him crossing the street." (Maybe you were in a car passing by, and you happened to see him walking in the middle of the street.)
3
"I was sad to see him went" doesn't sound right. I would say
"I was sad to see THAT he went away."
ps. Im not a native speaker of English.
July 28, 2019
1
Hello,Niwantha,I think you want to express this meaning: you went to see your football star’s match .but you didn’t see him. You consider too much about grammar. Are you Chinese student? If I say, I should say in this way: we went to see his last football match, unfortunately he has retired.(or he has gone).
July 28, 2019
1
The first
See him go
July 28, 2019
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Niwantha
Language Skills
English, Sinhala
Learning Language
English
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