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Re: Singing bird (was: does my lang cover everything?)

From:Sally Caves <scaves@...>
Date:Monday, May 1, 2006, 0:59
----- Original Message -----
From: "caeruleancentaur" <caeruleancentaur@...>

> I see (feel?) a differnce in the two phrases. Unfortunately, I can't > put my finger (ear?) on it at the moment.
I heard the bird sing. I heard the bird singing. One has the sense of a finite action for me, and the other of an imperfect or continuative.
> BTW, does "I heard the bird singing" mean the same thing as "I heard > the singing bird"?
Not in my books. "Singing bird" is loose compound and object of "heard." The former has an additional argument. Sally