3.205 transitive verbs with a present participle

Some verbs are used with an object and a present participle clause.

• He caught Hooper looking at him.
• She felt her grip tightening.
• I heard him gasping and shrieking.

Here is a list of verbs which are used with an object and a present participle:

• catch, describe, feel, find, hear, imagine, keep, leave, like, notice, observe, picture, prevent, save, see, send, spot, stop, want, watch

'Listen to' also belongs in this group. The object after it is the object of the preposition 'to'.

These verbs are sometimes used with a passive '-ing' form, but not usually with a perfect '-ing' form.

• Then he felt himself being snatched upright and shoved roughly across a flat space.