A student asked me to explain the grammar of the sentences below. In particular, the word 'rise' was confusing the student.
- Samsung saw sales rise.
- Apple saw the biggest rises in sales.
A good way to understand grammar is by looking at some very easy examples of the same type of construction. Here are some sentences that you could compare with those above:
- I saw the accident happen.
- I saw her leave.
- I saw a big change in his behaviour.
Can you explain the grammar of the examples above? Hopefully the two sentences with 'rise' will then seem easier to understand.
Dear Simon,
I would like to try my best to answer your question. Please give me some feedback if possible.
As for the first two examples with the verb "saw", simple past form of "see". I can clearly see the pattern, or the grammatical structure, which is see something or somebody do something. The verb succeeds the object of "see" has to be in bare infinitive form. I think the patter goes like this, to see sth/ sb + V(bare) (1). Regarding the other one, simply, the structure is to see a change in sth (2).
Turning to the examples with the word "rise". It is obvious that in the first sentence, it follows structure (1) so the word "rise" is a verb. Then in the other, structure (2) is used; thus, the word "rise" is a noun.
The two examples are clear and easy to understand. This can help others know and apply the implied structure/ grammatical point later.
Thanks a lot, Sir.
Posted by: thong chung | June 02, 2019 at 12:23
Hi Simon! Your examples are amazing! They are self explanatory!!
The bare infinitive after 'saw' in the first and second example shows 'happen' or 'leave' as verbs.
In the last example, the noun phrase 'a big change' suggests the noun form after 'saw' in this case.
This difference in verb or noun form after 'saw' demonstrates the infinitive verb form of 'rise' in the Samsung sentence. The 'rises' in the Apple sentence is part of the noun phrase 'the biggest rises'.
Posted by: Shirley | June 02, 2019 at 13:47
I think 'rise', 'happen', 'leave' are telic verbs, meaning that the action is complete. That's why we use see sb do sth. We should use 'see sb doing sth' for incomplete actions.
Posted by: Henry | June 02, 2019 at 17:01
The explanations from thong chung and Shirley are perfect. Basically, the structure is:
saw + noun/pronoun (+ infinitive)
e.g. saw it (happen)
Posted by: Simon | June 03, 2019 at 11:34