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The last sentence in the context contains "you have seen it happen", why not "...it happens"?

Exercise boosts mood and sunlight seems to help beat back the winter blues. So slap on some sunblock and go! If you need more convincing, remember this: staying in shape during the winter gets you physically ready for springtime activities (and wardrobes). If you’re into sports, you’ve seen it happen.

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The verb in the object complement is the bare infinitive.

I heard her object sing. complement

I saw him object run. complement

You have seen it object happen.complement

When we put the video in super slow-motion, we can see the hummingbird's wings beat.

The objects are not in nominative case but objective case (her, him).

This construction is not to be confused with a relative clause:

You have seen that it happens.

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  • Well, as I've understood, in this phrase "You have seen it happen" we have here "complex object" construction and it expresses completed action - "...it happen". And if we say "You have seen that it happens" - it's present simple tense and "the action" may be repeated once in a while or often ...Am I on the right track? Thanks!
    – Jane Miller
    Commented Apr 15, 2018 at 17:28

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