I saw him drink/drinking a cup of coffee.

[tzfujimino]

Hello.

1. I saw him drink a cup of coffee.
2. I saw him drinking a cup of coffee.

As for #1, would it be possible to interpret it as "I saw him drink a cup of coffee in one gulp"?

Thank you.

 

[Rover_KE]

It would be a stretch to interpret it that way.

 

[tzfujimino]

Thank you, Rover.

1. I saw him eat the last cherry on the plate. I wish I could have eaten it.
2. I saw him eating the last cherry on the plate. He looked so happy.

Do they sound natural?

Thank you again.

 

[MikeNewYork]

They are both possible. That said, 1 would be more common because it doesn't take very long to eat a cherry.

 

[Skrej]

Not sure why, but I can't help thinking of William Carlos Williams when I read this thread.


This Is Just To Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold



William Carlos Williams

 

[emsr2d2]

That has got to be one of the worst poems I have ever read in my life! And who eats frozen plums?

 

[MikeNewYork]

An "icebox" is an old word for a refrigerator. Probably not a freezer.

 

[Eckaslike]

I think it's probably another AmE and BrE difference.

MikeNewYork has explained that in AmE "icebox" is an old word for refrigerator. In BrE, traditionally, an "icebox" is the small top section of a fridge which is used for storing ice cream or frozen vegetables. In the UK the icebox has probably been superseded by the freezer, but the word association remains.

 

[Skrej]

The poem was written in 1934, so modern refrigerators weren't widespread yet. He may well have still been using an icebox, which in AmE was just that - a box filled with ice, used as an early form of refrigeration. Ice selling was a big business up until electric refrigerators eventually eliminated the need for steady ice delivery.

Nowadays, AmE does sometimes use 'icebox' to refer to the freezer compartment.

The poem is considered one of the classics of American Modernism and Imagism in poetry. Dr. Williams (he was also a practicing pediatrician and GP) was a contemporary of Frost. I've always admired the simplicity of it, and the notion of poetic apology for such an innocuous act.

Very vivid imagery anyone can relate to, not some highfalutin BS where you're supposed guess at 20 different possible esoteric hidden meanings.

He ate it, enjoyed it, and it was worth the guilt trip.

Emrs - them's fightin' words!:shock:

 

[MikeNewYork]

When my grandfather emigrated to the US, he worked as an iceman. He had a horse and cart and delivered ice to people's iceboxes. My mother called our refrigerator an icebox for many years.