Verbs of perception: How and When to Use in English

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Verbs of perception

The verbs of involuntary perception (to see, to hear, to feel, to smell, to taste) have certain characteristics in common:
•They are often used with the auxiliary verb can:
Can you hear that? Do you hear that? Are you able to hear that?
I can't see much. I am not able to see much.
I can feel the baby moving inside me. I feel the baby moving inside me.
• They are not conjugated in the progressive form, unlike verbs which express voluntary actions ('to look (at)', 'to listen (to)'):
I hear what you're saying, but I don't want to listen to you anymore.
However they are also used to express voluntary actions and can therefore be conjugated in the progressive form:
Bruno can't see who's knocking at his door. (involuntary)
Bruno is not seeing anybody today. (voluntary)
Can you feel the banana leaf added to this mixture? (involuntary)
Horatio is feeling a banana leaf. He says he likes its texture. (voluntary)
Luna's cake tastes good. (involuntary)
Luna is tasting her cake. (voluntary)
• They are formed with an object followed by a verb in the infinitive without 'to' (like the verbs to watch, to observe...):
I saw the sun rise this morning.
Everybody heard Philip yell.
Exercise 1
The following sentences use several 'verbs of perception'. Many of these verbs require special constructions, and follow special rules. Some of the sentences may be written incorrectly. Choose 'Correct' or 'Incorrect' for each example.

'Hear you that?' =

'I can barely see you in this cave' =

'I'm hearing a bear approach' =

'I can feel my heart to beat like a drum' =
The following sentences use several 'verbs of perception'. Many of these verbs require special constructions, and follow special rules. Some of the sentences may be written incorrectly. Choose 'Correct' or 'Incorrect' for each example.

'Hear you that?' = Incorrect 1

'I can barely see you in this cave' = Correct 2

'I'm hearing a bear approach' = Incorrect 3

'I can feel my heart to beat like a drum' = Incorrect 4
1 Incorrect: This sentence is incorrect. When we use a 'verb of perception' (to hear) to ask a question, we usually use the auxiliary 'can'. The correct sentence should read: 'Can you hear that?'.
1 Correct: This sentence is not correct.
2 Correct: This sentence is correct. When we use a 'verb of perception' (to see) in a construction such as this (expressing doubt) we usually use the auxiliary 'can'.
2 Incorrect: This sentence is not incorrect.
3 Incorrect: This sentence is incorrect. In many cases we do not conjugate 'verbs of perception' (to hear) in the present progressive form (I'm hearing). If we want to convey the progressive sense of a 'verb of perception', we usually use the -ING form of the second verb. Example: 'I hear a bear approaching'.
3 Correct: This sentence is not correct.
4 Incorrect: This sentence is incorrect. When we use a 'verb of perception' (to feel) we do not usually follow it with the full infinitive form (to beat). The correct sentence should read: 'I can feel my heart beating like a drum'.
4 Correct: This sentence is not correct.
Exercise 2
Winston: that?
Clementine: What?
Winston: It like smoke.
Clementine: Well, I a fire in the kitchen. It’s probably that.
Winston: Ah OK, that explains it. Pass me that cigar, will you?
Winston: Can you smell 1 that?
Clementine: What?
Winston: It smells 2 like smoke.
Clementine: Well, I can see 3 a fire in the kitchen. It’s probably that.
Winston: Ah OK, that explains it. Pass me that cigar, will you?
1 Can you smell: Verbs of involuntary perception like "to smell" are often used with the auxiliary verb "can". This is especially common in questions. Here, Winston is asking Clementine if she is able to detect an odor using her nose. Another example: "Can you hear that sound? It sounds like gunfire!".
1 Will you smell: "Will you smell that?" is a question about either whether someone is willing to, or agrees to, smell something, or whether someone will smell something in the future. Neither of these questions make sense in this context.
1 Are you smelling: Winston is asking Clementine about an involuntary action of smelling: detecting an odor or scent (without intending to). We only use the progressive tense ("are you smelling") to refer to voluntary actions. For example: "-What's Dina doing in that shop? -She is smelling different perfumes" (Here, Dina is actively sampling the scents of different perfumes, probably by moving her nose towards them).
2 smells: To describe an odor or scent which we are currently detecting, we use the simple present tense. For example: "Mmm, that curry smells delicious!".
2 is smelling: We don't use the present progressive tense to refer to the flavor or odor of something. We use the progressive tense to refer to a voluntary act in which someone intentionally tries to sense something. For example: "I'm tasting this stew to see whether it needs more salt".
2 can smell: A person can smell something, but an object (or the impersonal pronoun "it") cannot be the subject of "can smell". For example, we would say "I can smell something strange in this room" but "This room smells strange".
3 can see: Verbs of involuntary perception like "to see" are commonly used with "can". Another example: "I can feel the wind on the back of my neck". Note, however, that Clementine could also have simply said "I see a fire".
3 am seeing: We don't use the present progressive tense to refer to the involuntary action of seeing (perceiving with the eyes). We could use the progressive tense to refer to "seeing" in the sense of "dating" or "being romantically involved with" someone, for example: "I'm currently seeing a man called Jay and a woman called Gee".
Exercise 3
Joanna: I that your daughter is going to university in September, is that right?
David: Yes! She’s going to study zoology.
Joanna: That fantastic! What about her love life, any news?
David: I think that she an orangutan.
Joanna: I heard 1 that your daughter is going to university in September, is that right?
David: Yes! She’s going to study zoology.
Joanna: That sounds 2 fantastic! What about her love life, any news?
David: I think that she is seeing 3 an orangutan.
1 heard: The simple past tense is the most appropriate option here. Joanna is saying that someone told her, in the past, about David's daughter going to university. We would also use the same tense in the more literal sense of the verb: "David heard strange noises while he was cooking".
1 was hearing: We rarely use the verb "to hear" in progressive tenses (tenses that use the "-ing" form of the verb). In any case, Joanna is referring to a single past action, not an ongoing or continuous one.
2 sounds: Just like verbs of involuntary perception (to see, to hear, to taste, etc.), related verbs like "to sound" are usually conjugated in simple tenses. Other similar examples: "That sounds so interesting!", "That looks difficult", "That seems like a bad idea".
2 is sounding: When making statements about our current opinion or perception of something, we generally do not use the present progressive tense.
3 is seeing: We use a progressive tense with the verb "to see" when it refers to dating, or being romantically involved with, a person (or primate). Another example: "My brother is seeing his former teacher at the moment. I don't think it's a good idea".
3 sees: We use the simple present tense with the verb "to see" when it refers to an involuntary act of vision. However, we are not talking about vision in this sentence! Example: "I see you! Your hiding place isn't very good!".
3 can see: We use the phrase "can see" when it refers to an involuntary act of vision. However, we are not talking about vision in this sentence! Example: "I can see you! Your hiding place isn't very good!".
Exercise 4
As I walked up to the door, I felt the blood harder in my veins. I see the party through the window. My legs weak as the door opened, and as Sophie looked me up and down, I immediately regretted coming dressed as a lobster.
As I walked up to the door, I felt the blood pump 1 harder in my veins. I could 2 see the party through the window. My legs felt 3 weak as the door opened, and as Sophie looked me up and down, I immediately regretted coming dressed as a lobster.
1 pump: When a verb follows a verb of perception like "to feel" with an object ("the blood"), it is generally in the infinitive (without "to"). Here, the narrator is saying that they could feel the sensation caused by their heart beating more quickly and pumping blood around the body more rapidly. Another example: "I felt my head get lighter as we climbed higher up the mountain".
1 pumped: We do not conjugate verbs which follow verbs of involuntary perception like "feel" used with an object (like "the blood"). Without the verb "felt", the narrator would say "The blood pumped harder in my veins" (in this case, the blood is the subject of the sentence).
1 to pump: We must remove "to" from this sentence.
2 could: We often use the verb "to see" with the verb "can" to describe the involuntary action of perceiving with the eyes. "Could" is the past tense of "can". The narrator is saying that they witnessed, glimpsed, or perceived the party through the window.
2 would: There is no reason to use "would" here. We might say: "I didn't see Adele at the party, but I would see her twice in the following week". This means that the narrator saw Adele twice afterwards. More generally, "would" is mostly used to form the conditional. For example: "I would watch you dancing if I weren't so busy folding clothes".
2 did: There is no reason to use "did" here. The standard simple past tense in English is not formed using "did": the simple past tense of "to see" is "I saw". We could say "I did see" to emphasize something in response to a negative statement. For example: "-You never saw my artwork, did you? -I did see some of it, at that exhibition in the hotel!".
3 felt: To describe a physical sensation in the past, we generally use the simple past tense: "I felt" or "my head felt". Another example: "My belly felt incredibly full by the end of the meal".
3 were feeling: Generally speaking, we don't use a progressive tense to refer to the involuntary sense of a verb like "to feel" (when it refers to sensations). We use the progressive tense to refer to the voluntary action of feeling (touching, palpating) something. For example: "Polly is feeling pears to try to find one which is ripe".
3 could feel: The subject of the phrase "can feel" is generally a person, not an object or body part like "legs". The narrator might say, for example, "I could feel my legs shaking".
Exercise 5
Complete the sentences below with the verbs from the following list. Not all the verbs are used!

Taste | Hear | Sound | Feel | Listen | Touch | Smell

Make sure you conjugate your answers correctly, and do not add extra words such as prepositions (“to”, “for”, etc.).


Brian, that cake that you are baking absolutely delicious.

I the ringing of the church bells! Someone must be getting married!

Edward to death metal music in the office again. It's driving me crazy.
Complete the sentences below with the verbs from the following list. Not all the verbs are used!

Taste | Hear | Sound | Feel | Listen | Touch | Smell

Make sure you conjugate your answers correctly, and do not add extra words such as prepositions (“to”, “for”, etc.).


Brian, that cake that you are baking smells 1 absolutely delicious.

I hear 2 the ringing of the church bells! Someone must be getting married!

Edward is listening 3 to death metal music in the office again. It's driving me crazy.
1 smells: This is the most natural option. The speaker is saying that the aroma of the cake which is currently in the oven is very nice. We use the simple present tense with involuntary verbs of perception like to smell, to taste and to hear. Another example: "Wow, this chocolate tastes amazing".
2 hear: We use the simple present tense to refer to involuntary acts of perception. In this case, the speaker is saying that they are noticing the sound of the bells: they did not intend to hear them, so the action is involuntary. A similar example: "I see land on the horizon! Sail the ship northwards!". Note that we could also say "I can hear the ringing of the church bells".
3 is listening: "To listen" is a verb of voluntary perception, because listening requires deliberate action. Therefore we use the present progressive tense here, because Edward is listening to music now. Notice the difference between "I hear music!" (involuntary) and "I am listening to music" (voluntary).

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