How do you construct a sentence like I heard you talking or maybe I saw you walking?
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Explaining the difference between "I saw you talk to him" and "I saw you talking to him"we usually use different conjunctions.Я видел, что ты разговаривал с ним.and Я видел, как ты разговаривал с ним. We build a sentence with a subordinate clause.– V.V.Commented Nov 5, 2016 at 1:40
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1With some verbs we can use a noun. I found him reading. Я застал его за чтением.– V.V.Commented Nov 5, 2016 at 2:49
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1 Answer
Here is a straight-forward translation:
- I heard you talking. - Я слышал, как ты разговаривала.
- I saw you walking. - Я виделa, как ты шёл.
In a spoken speech [как] could be dropped, especially when English participle has some dependent words:
- I heard you talking on the phone. - Я слышал, ты разговаривала по телефону.
- I saw you walking in the park. - Я видела, ты гулял в парке.
You can also use Russian participles:
- I saw you talking. - Я видел тебя разговаривающей.
- I saw you walking. - Я видел тебя гуляющим.
- However, "Я слышал тебя разговаривающей." sounds unnatural to me.
Be careful when some expressions have idiomatic meaning:
- Я слышала, ты гулял. "Я слышала" could mean "I heard a rumour". "Он гуляет" could mean "He is a playboy / goes around." The participles "гуляющий" and "гулящий" have distinctly different meanings,
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1Complex object shouldn't be translated with the present participle, it's considered like a "bad translation "– V.V.Commented Nov 5, 2016 at 1:45
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@V.V. "Я видел тебя гулявшей в парке?" This is using past participle. Is it considered better style, than present participle?– VitalyCommented Nov 5, 2016 at 13:44
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Sorry, the most common translators' mistake is using a calque, a loan translation.– V.V.Commented Nov 7, 2016 at 7:29