Question 1

Why use the infinitive balancearse instead of the gerund balanceándose?

Accepted Answer

With perception verbs like sentir, using the infinitive means you perceived the action as a whole, completed event (usually translated as "swing"). Using the gerund (balanceándose) would emphasize an action in progress—that you felt it while it was swinging (usually translated as "swinging").

Question 2

Why is the reflexive pronoun se attached to balancear here?

Accepted Answer

The base verb balancear is transitive, meaning to balance or swing something else. We add se to make it pronominal (balancearse), indicating that the wagon is moving or swinging itself, rather than someone else swinging the wagon.

Question 3

Could sentimos also mean "we feel" in the present tense?

Accepted Answer

Yes. For -ir verbs like sentir, the "we" form (nosotros) is the exact same in both the present indicative and the preterite (past) tense: sentimos. You have to rely on context to know if it means "we feel" or "we felt".

Question 4

If I wanted to replace el vagón with "it", how would I rewrite this sentence?

Accepted Answer

You would use the direct object pronoun lo. Because sentimos is the main conjugated verb, the pronoun goes before it: Lo sentimos balancearse en el aire (We felt it swing in the air).

Sentimos el vagón balancearse en el aire.

Breakdown of Sentimos el vagón balancearse en el aire.

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