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I got 2 ways of use of the word HEAR below, what is the difference between them just in tense terms?

1- hear somebody/something doing something

e.g: He could hear a dog barking.

2- hear somebody/something do something
e.g: Did you hear him go out?

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They are both present tense. The first is a declarative sentence and the second is an interrogative and both use different pronoun subjects. Otherwise the usage and tense is the same. The first is present tense singular and the second is a second person direct address but is otherwise indistinguishable in grammatical terms as English does not conjugate different for these.

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  • i see the difference is "do something" and "doing something" in the two sentences, What do they mean? Apr 7, 2020 at 2:42
  • Doing is closer to the present tense.
    – Md. Ahsan
    Apr 7, 2020 at 2:46
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    I saw him doing the dishes. There is no end here mentioned. I saw him do the dishes. The end is known or at least implied. For information on this please look into perfect aspect and past progressive.
    – Md. Ahsan
    Apr 7, 2020 at 2:47

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