grammar - Explanation of Grammatical structure is needed



The crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth.



This is a sentence from Harry Potter I. I don't understand how "clap" is used right after "saw". Shouldn't there be a "to" in between? i.e. "saw him to clap" seems appropriate.



Answer



There are two verb constructions of the type verb + object + infinitive.


The normal construction is verb + object + to-infinitive as in



  • I want you to help me.


A small group of verbs use only bare infinitive:


1 All verbs of perception as eg to see, hear, feel etc.



  • I heard the girls laugh ("laughing" is also possible).


2 Verbs of cause and allowance:




  • to make s (someone) do sth, to have s do sth, older: to bid s do sth - to let s do sth




  • You make me laugh. Let the children come to me.




I searched the Internet for information about these two verb constructions. What I found is miserable.


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