To talk about seeing an artist work or hearing a needle buzz, German uses specific verbs that act like modal verbs: they take a second verb in its bare infinitive form (without zu) at the end of the sentence.
Verbs of Perception: sehen and hören
When you see or hear someone or something performing an action, use sehen or hören as your conjugated main verb. The person or thing you are observing becomes the direct object (in the accusative case), and the action they are doing is placed at the very end of the sentence as an infinitive without zu.
| I hear the needle buzzing in the tattoo parlor. | Ich höre die Nadel im Tattoostudio surren. |
| We see the tattoo artist working. | Wir sehen den Tätowierer arbeiten. |
Notice how the objects (die Nadel and den Tätowierer) sit in the middle of the clause, while the bare infinitives (surren and arbeiten) are pushed to the end.
If the observed action has a direct object of its own, that object simply goes before the infinitive at the end of the sentence.
| Who sees the tattoo artist inking the tattoo? | Wer sieht den Tätowierer das Tattoo stechen? |
The Verb "bleiben"
The verb bleiben (to stay) also pairs directly with a bare infinitive. This is most commonly used with verbs of posture like sitzen (to sit) or liegen (to lie) to express remaining in a certain physical position.
| The customer stays sitting still. | Der Kunde bleibt still sitzen. |
| Since the tattoo is painful, the customer stays seated quietly. | Da das Tattoo schmerzhaft ist, bleibt der Kunde still sitzen. |
Just like with the verbs of perception, bleiben is conjugated to match the subject, and the bare infinitive sits patiently at the end of the clause.
Verbs of Motion: gehen and kommen
Finally, verbs of motion like gehen (to go) and kommen (to come) can take a bare infinitive to show the purpose of the movement. Instead of using a complex phrase like "goes in order to work," German smoothly pairs the motion verb with the bare infinitive.
| The tattoo artist goes to work now. | Der Tätowierer geht jetzt arbeiten. |
| Since the tattoo parlor is full, the tattoo artist comes to help. | Da das Tattoostudio voll ist, kommt der Tätowierer helfen. |
By placing the bare infinitives (arbeiten and helfen) at the end, these sentences clearly and concisely describe the flow of action.
