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English question

I have a question about sentence (1).

(1) I saw him eat his dinner.

Does (1) mean that I saw his dinner situation from the beginning to the end?
Or does (1) focus on the end of the event, i.e. I saw him as he finished his dinner?
Joshlost · M
The sentence has an ambiguous meaning. To have the specific meanings you have inferred it would need qualifiers such as
'I saw him eat his whole dinner'.
For your second suggestion I think in colloquial English one would say 'I saw him finish his dinner'.
However as there is no qualifier to suggest it was only some of the dinner that was seen being eaten I would suggest the most likely meaning would have been the whole meal was seen being eaten.

Yay, Im definitely going to pass my literature exam!
swirlie · 31-35, F
@Joshlost
It's not ambiguous at all unless you decide it's meaning is ambiguous to you. From there, you'll turn the sentence into meaning what you want it to mean.
Joshlost · M
@swirlie I'll defer to your obviously higher degree of learning 😁
@Joshlost Your answer was just fine.
DunningKruger · 61-69, M
"I saw him eat his dinner" can mean that you watched him eat his dinner from beginning to end. However, it can also mean that you saw him eating his dinner at any point during that event. This includes the end of the event — he finished his dinner — but it doesn't have to be that point in the event.
Hidenori · 46-50, M
@DunningKruger Thanks. That helps.
walabby · 61-69, M
It is implied that you saw him eat all of his dinner. If you said "I saw him eating his dinner", that would imply that you had one look, or maybe more than one, and at that time, he was eating.
Hidenori · 46-50, M
@walabby Thanks. That really helps. 😀
In general, it would mean you had dinner together.... That's how it would be used. I'm not sure why others are making longer explanations.
Hidenori · 46-50, M
@thewindupbirdchronicles Thanks. That helps.
@Hidenori It's the colloquial meaning
Penny · 46-50, F
Could mean either . It basically means either they saw him while in the middle of eating it or observed that he finished it. It fairly vague a statement.
Hidenori · 46-50, M
@Penny Thanks. That helps. 😀
I don't know that either is particularly implied with a simple statement.
Hidenori · 46-50, M
@stound Thanks. That helps. 😀
deadgerbil · 26-30
It's just a general statement that can mean all of the above, or you just saw him for a moment eating his dinner
SW-User
As a native English speaker I would understand it the first way.
Hidenori · 46-50, M
@SW-User Thanks. That helps. 😀
WandererTony · 56-60, M
I feel it means the former.
Hidenori · 46-50, M
@WandererTony Thanks. That helps. 😀
DDonde · 31-35, M
There is no focus on the end of the event here
Hidenori · 46-50, M
@DDonde Thanks. That helps. 😀
swirlie · 31-35, F
I saw his dinner situation from the beginning to the end.
Hidenori · 46-50, M
@swirlie Thanks. That helps. 😀
This message was deleted by its author.
@Hidenori The sentence only means that at some point durng his dinner you saw him eating.
dominateofyou · 61-69, M
@LamontCranston Very good answer same as I thought.
Hidenori · 46-50, M
@LamontCranston @dominateofyou Thanks, everyone. Very much appreciated. 😀

 
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