"La sentii cantare una canzone."

Translation: I heard her sing a song.

[lorendani]

The translation Italian-English and English-Italian when you use past is very confusional. For example you can translate present perfect with passato prossimo, but also with other past tenses. The same is for the past simple. This is because in italian we use more a time criterion rather than a manner criterion(pass. prossimo is a near action in the time, pass. remoto is a far action in the time). This is why I have problems with English past tenses

[Teresinha]

Please,why is wrong "I heard her TO sing a song"?Thanks!

[friswing]

After verbs for senses (hear, see, feel) English does not use 'to' before the following infinitive

[Teresinha]

Thank you very much! I am learning more English than Italian here... :))

[friswing]

You're welcome! I think we all learn a lot from both (all) languages!

[VictorHTO]

Why is it wrong: I've heard her singing a song???

[friswing]

I have heard her = L'ho sentita (always passato prossimo). But "sentii" is always "I heard" (imperfect) in English. It is a bit tricky, because when you translate from English "I heard", it is possible to choose from different Italian tenses: Ho sentito (passato prossimo), sentii (litterary past tense), sentivo (imperfetto). But not when translating back from Italian. --- I know I should never say always, but this is my 'amateurish' explanation.

[VictorHTO]

Thank you so much for your clear explanation.

[aaaaadammmmm]

Can this also mean "I heard you sing a song"?

[lorendani]

Yeah if you consider "la" as the formal You.