[Grammar] Please tell if this sentence is grammatically right.

[zxcxz]

Hi all,

I am a student from Korea learning English as a second language. I am not good at grammar but know just a little.

I ran into the following sentence reading a text:

Sadako was quiet, listening to the leaves of the tree rustle in the wind.


I think there should be a noun phrase after "listening to" because the "to" is a preposition.

But isn't "rustle" a verb?

So I looked up "rustle" in a dictionary and I found out "rustle" can be used as both verb and noun. However, it doesn't make sense to me even if the word was a noun. The leaves on "the tree rustle"? Leaves cannot be on sound.

So I am stuck at this point. Please help!

Thanks in advance.

 

[justlearning]

Here, "rustle" is used as a verb.
When a wind blows, the leaves (especially the dry ones) rustle. Sadako was listening to the sound caused by the rustling of leaves.

Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.

 

[zxcxz]

Here, "rustle" is used as a verb.
When a wind blows, the leaves (especially the dry ones) rustle and make a sound. Sadako was listening to the sound caused by the rustling of leaves.

Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.

Ah, I figured out that "listen to" in the sentence is a verb of perception which is followed by infinitive.

What do you think??

 

[Matthew Wai]

I agree with you and I found the following list of verbs of perception
https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/54743-Verbs-of-Perception-and-Causative-Verbs#2

Not a teacher.

 

[zxcxz]

Thank you, that helps a lot!

 

[MikeNewYork]

"Listen" is a verb of perception. The "to" that follows it is not an infinitive marker; it is a preposition. "Listen" is an intransitive verb, so it does not take a direct object. It can be followed by a prepositional phrase.