[Grammar] Did you hear the band playing at the concert last night?

[Son Ho]

I don't understand what this sentence means. I think maybe the speaker wants to know if the listener watched the concert from the beginning to the end in this situation. This sentence is in Fill in the gaps Book 2 by Edward R. Rosset. Why does the writer use playing after hear? Could you please explain to me?

1. "Did you hear the band playing at the concert last night?" " Yes, I heard them play."

 

[Tarheel]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

Unfortunately, the phrase you asked about is not in your example sentences.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

Tarheel is drawing your attention to the fact that your title starts with "Did you heard ...". That's incorrect. The correct word is in the main body of your post. Both "play" and "playing" work after "Did you hear ..." in that example. It's a very odd question. If the person was at a concert, it seems implausible that they didn't hear (listen to) the band. Otherwise, why on earth did they buy a ticket?

 

[Son Ho]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

I'm sorry I could fix the error in the post, not in the title. I wasn't careful. If the key to that sentence were play, maybe it would be easier to think of. I would like to understand it more clearly why the writer doesn't use play which implies that the listener hear the concert from the beginning to the end of the concert. Because I just think that we must use playing when we (accidentally) watch or see part of some action, not the whole one.

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

I'm sorry I could fix the error in the post, but not in the title.

You have 24 hours to change the title, but you have to click Go Advanced after Edit Post.

 

[jutfrank]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

I honestly think that this sentence is so artificial that it's not really worth trying to analyse.

What's the point of this? Do you have to fill in a gap in the sentence or something? If so, which word goes in the gap?

 

[Tarheel]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

It is clear that in "Did you hear the band playing" that "playing" comes after "band". (See below.)

Bob: Did you hear the band last night?
Rob: Of course I did! I was at the concert.

Playing (making music) is what bands do.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

It is clear that in "Did you hear the band playing?" that "playing" comes after "band".

True but the OP is asking why it's "Did you hear the band playing?" rather than "Did you hear the band play?" I'm not disputing that your "Did you hear the band?" means much the same but it doesn't answer the OP's question.

 

[Tdol]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

I honestly think that this sentence is so artificial that it's not really worth trying to analyse.

What's the point of this? Do you have to fill in a gap in the sentence or something? If so, which word goes in the gap?

It is a mess. If the writer wants to emphasise that it was from beginning to end, then it would make more sense to use play in both sentences. However, we'd more naturally ask something like Did you see the band last night?

 

[Tarheel]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

True but the OP is asking why it's "Did you hear the band playing?" rather than "Did you hear the band play?" I'm not disputing that your "Did you hear the band?" means much the same but it doesn't answer the OP's question.

Two things. One, you phrased it better. Two, I can only guess (often) why somebody said something one way and not another way. The writer himself might not even know.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

Like jutfrank, I find that sentence so artificial (verging on nonsensical) that it's not worth spending any more time on. Let's give you some natural sentences that you might hear from native speakers!

You went to see the Foo Fighters last night, didn't you? What did you think?
Did you get to the gig in time for the support act? Were they any good?
My sister's band was supporting The Rolling Stones last night. Did you hear hear them?

(In case of confusion, the "support act" is a smaller, less popular band who play a set (a list of songs) before the main act come on. Often, being the support act for a really big band is how those smaller bands finally get noticed.)
If I knew that someone had been to a concert the night before, there would be no reason for me to ask them if they saw the main band they were there to see. I would assume they had listened to that band's entire set list.

 

[Son Ho]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

What's the point of this? Do you have to fill in a gap in the sentence or something? If so, which word goes in the gap?

Fill in the gaps. I think now I can use play and play in the gaps instead playing and play.

1. "Did you hear the band ................ at the concert last night?" " Yes, I heard them .............."

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

Yes, you can use "play/play", "playing/playing", "play/playing" and "playing/play". You can also use "play/nothing", "playing/nothing", "nothing/play", "nothing/playing" and "nothing/nothing".

As you can see, it's not a helpful question if you're trying to learn English and if the writer was trying to suggest there is only one correct answer.

 

[Tdol]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

You can't use nothing in the second.

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

Fill in the gaps. I think now I can use play and play in the gaps instead playing and play.

1. "Did you hear the band ................ at the concert last night?" " Yes, I heard them .............."

For the second time, I hope you can see that this information should have been given originally in post #1, not added two days and 11 posts later. It would have saved the responders a lot of time.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

You can't use nothing in the second.

Do you mean in the second sentence? Why not? What's wrong with "Yes, I heard them"? It's what I'd say.

 

[Tdol]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

I thought you meant that you heard nothing.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Did you heard the band playing at the concert last night?

Ahhhh, sorry! I hadn't considered that it looked like I was suggesting the word "nothing" rather than actually using nothing at all.