Breakdown of Hast du das Baby krabbeln und den Hund hüpfen sehen?
du
you (informal singular)
und
and
der Hund
the dog
haben
to have
sehen
to see
das Baby
the baby
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
hüpfen
to hop
krabbeln
to crawl (on hands and knees)
Questions & Answers about Hast du das Baby krabbeln und den Hund hüpfen sehen?
Why is the sentence using sehen at the end instead of the past participle gesehen?
This is the double infinitive rule in action. When non-modal verbs like sehen (to see), hören (to hear), or lassen (to let) are used in the Perfekt tense alongside another action verb, they drop their standard past participle (gesehen) and use their infinitive form (sehen) instead.
Does sehen apply to both krabbeln and hüpfen here?
Yes, the single sehen at the end of the sentence applies to both actions. You do not need to repeat it. The structure groups the objects and their actions together: das Baby krabbeln and den Hund hüpfen, followed by the shared verb sehen.
What is the word order rule for this double infinitive structure?
Just like with standard modal verbs in the Perfekt tense, the conjugated helping verb (hast) takes the second position, and both infinitives are pushed to the very end of the clause. The perception verb (sehen) always comes last, immediately after the action verbs (krabbeln and hüpfen).
Would I still use the infinitive if the sentence was just about seeing the baby, without the verb krabbeln?
No. If there is no second action verb in the sentence, sehen acts like a normal verb and uses its standard past participle. You would simply ask: Hast du das Baby gesehen? The double infinitive is only triggered when another verb is present.
Learn Hast du das Baby krabbeln und den Hund hüpfen sehen and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free