I discovered the following sentence in a book on French grammar. The sentence surprised me!
Elle regarde le bébé dormir.
She watches the baby sleep.
This sentence surprised me, because the object ("le bébé") itself looks like a subject, that takes a verb (as in "le bébé dormir") !
(The book says that verbs of perception can create these sentences; it says that the six most common verbs of perception are apercevoir, écouter, entendre, regarder, sentir, and voir).
The reason this sentence surprised me is that I had thought that object nouns couldn't themselves also take verbs. For example, I know that "Do you want me to speak French?" needs to be translated as if it was "Do you want that I speak French?" ("Est-ce que tu veux que je parle le français?").
Questions:
- Is "Elle regarde le bébé parler le français?" a correct sentence?
- How do I say "She watches me speak French"? (Is it "Elle regarde moi parler le français", or is "je" used instead of "moi"?)
- Are there other examples of sentences in French where an object can take a verb?