Breakdown of Vedo il giocoliere finire lo spettacolo e sento il pubblico applaudire.
e
and
vedere
to see
sentire
to hear
finire
to finish
lo spettacolo
the show
il pubblico
the audience
applaudire
to applaud
il giocoliere
the juggler
Questions & Answers about Vedo il giocoliere finire lo spettacolo e sento il pubblico applaudire.
Why do we use the infinitives finire and applaudire instead of translating 'finishing' and 'applauding' with a gerund?
With perception verbs like vedere (to see) and sentire (to hear), Italian uses the present infinitive to describe the action you are witnessing. The infinitive here covers both the English bare verb ('finish') and the -ing form ('finishing').
Can the word order change? Could I say Vedo finire il giocoliere?
Yes, you can! When using a perception verb followed by an infinitive, the subject of that infinitive can go either before it (Vedo il giocoliere finire) or after it (Vedo finire il giocoliere). Both are very common and mean exactly the same thing.
Why use sento instead of ascolto for hearing the audience?
Sentire is used for the passive sense of 'to hear' or 'to perceive a sound', while ascoltare is the active effort 'to listen'. Because you are passively perceiving the applause rather than intentionally listening to a speech, sento is the natural choice.
The audience is made up of many people, so why is il pubblico treated as singular?
Il pubblico is a collective noun. In Italian, collective nouns representing a group of people (like la gente or il gruppo) always remain grammatically singular, even though they represent multiple individuals.
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