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What is the meaning of "I saw you walk in the street" when using bare infinitive form (walk)?

If I want to say to someone that I saw him (for example while I sit in the bus) in the street, then I would say

"Jon, I saw you while you were walking in Manhattan street"

But I have other options that I'm not sure about their meaning nor correctness:

  • "Jon, I saw you walking in the street of the center"

  • Jon, I saw you walk in the street of the center"

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What is the meaning of "I saw you walk in the street" when using bare infinitive form (walk)?

It means that you saw the entire action (walking). That is, looking at them at their first point of the walk until the last.

"Jon, I saw you walking in the street of the center"

This means that, you saw only some parts of his walking in the street not the entire walk.

PS: Use on the bus not in the bus for your sentence.

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  • I'm sorry, but this is simply not true. "I saw you walk in the street" does not mean that the speaker saw the entire action from start to finish. It means that the speaker is choosing to treat the action of walking as a single whole for the purposes of this statement, rather than as a continuing action of which they saw part. It is somewhat unlikely, except as a narrative where it is one of a series of actions - "I saw you come out of your door, walk up the street, and turn right at the end"; but it is possible on its own.
    – Colin Fine
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 at 16:57
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    First, I don't know you meant correct by true or not. If you meant true, we are not here to judge about the truth of the stories people post, nor can we. Second, I agree that the sentence, as it is, and has the meaning I posted, may does not happen in reality frequently, but it's not up to us! We are here to consider the sentences to see if they are correct (grammatically) and natural or not.
    – Abbasi
    Commented Dec 31, 2016 at 17:43

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