[Grammar] Grammar tense for the main clause started with I heard

[mehdi 100]

Hi there.
I have a question regarding the following sentence:
While setting at my computer, I heard the fire alarm go off.

I sometimes say “While setting at my computer, I heard the fire alarm went off” which seems to be grammatically wrong.

Why, in the second part of the sentence, we use “go off” and not “went off”?
I mean, “heard” is already written in the past but this is not the case for “go off”
I would like to know the grammar rule behind it.

Thanks for your attention.

 

[emsr2d2]

[STRIKE]Hi there.[/STRIKE] Unnecessary.

I have a question regarding the following sentence:

While sitting at my computer, I heard the fire alarm go off.

I sometimes say “While sitting at my computer, I heard the fire alarm went off” which seems to be grammatically wrong.

Why, in the second part of the sentence, do we use “go off” and not “went off”? [STRIKE]I mean,[/STRIKE] “Heard” is already [STRIKE]written[/STRIKE] in the past tense but this is not the case for “go off”. I would like to know the grammar rule behind it.

[STRIKE]Thanks for your attention.[/STRIKE] Unnecessary. Thank us after we help you, by clicking on the Thank button.

Please note my corrections and comments above.

After verbs such as "see/hear/watch" we use the bare infinitive.

I heard her sing.
You heard the fire alarm go off.
She saw him dance.
We will hear her speak.
She watched him play.

 

[Phaedrus]

I sometimes say “While stting at my computer, I heard the fire alarm went off” which seems to be grammatically wrong.

That sentence is not grammatically wrong, but it has a different meaning. It means: "While sitting at my computer, I heard that the fire alarm went off."

In other words, your sentence with "went" means that you heard a report about the fire alarm's having gone off, not that you heard the alarm itself.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Just to get a feel for the sense of your original sentence, you can also break it down this way:

- Me: What did you hear?

- You: I heard the alarm.

- Me: What did you hear it do?

- You: I heard it ring. I heard it go off.​

The underlined words are not past tense because they simply name the action.


Note: In some parts of the US, people say set instead of sit. But it's not standard.