I often hear him sing.

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touchstone

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--Do you often hear Tom ___ in his room?
--Yes. Now you can hear him ____ in his room.
A. sing; singing
B. sing; sing
C. singing; sing
D. singing; singing

The answer key is A. I think D is also OK. In some reference books, they say you should say ‘I often hear him sing’ because there is a ‘often’ in the sentence. I wonder if that is true.
Thanks.
 
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tzfujimino

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I agree with you that D is also OK.
(Not a native speaker of English)
 

Matthew Wai

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I think it has nothing to do with 'often' but has to do with 'hear' being a verb of perception.
 

touchstone

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Thanks for your replies, friends.
A reference book says if you hear intentionally or on purpose,
I often hear somebody do something is spoken more than I often hear somebody doing something. I wonder if that is true.
Thanks again.

(
The book is named A Dictionary of English Usage by Ge Chuangui, Shanghai Translation Press.)

 
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Raymott

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If you purposefully attend to a sound, it's called listening, not hearing.
 

touchstone

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[FONT=&#23435]Thanks very much for your patience and replies, Piscean and Raymott.[/FONT]
[FONT=&#23435]I think I mistranslated what the author said. Now I think the author want to say [/FONT][FONT=&#23435]I often listen to somebody do something[/FONT][FONT=&#23435] is spoken more than [/FONT][FONT=&#23435]I often listen to somebody doing something[/FONT][FONT=&#23435] if you do it intentionally or on purpose. Is that true?[/FONT]
[FONT=&#23435]Thanks again.[/FONT]
 

emsr2d2

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I don't think that's true.

I often listen to my cousin play the guitar.
I often listen to my cousin playing the guitar.

I'd use them equally.
 

Raymott

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Yes, Matthew, there are some contexts where you can use 'hear' for 'listen'.
 
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