"I saw you [verb]ing" (Japanese)

[xlightbringerx]

Hello! I've been lurking for a little while and this is my first post, so first I thought I would introduce myself briefly.

Comments

[akibare]

Yes, it works the same for any verb.

You need to take the sentences apart. As its_anya says too, "you can say that you saw it like any other noun..."

Your sentence, broken up, is:【【 あなたが踊っている】の】見た。

A verb takes an object (a noun, that you're "verbing") with を.
「Ｘを見た」＝"(I/he/she/they/Susan) saw X"
「Ｘを聞いた」＝"(I/he/she/they/Susan) heard X"
「Ｘを発見した」＝"(I/he/she/they/Susan) discovered X"

The X needs to be a noun. It can be a plain single noun like "car" or it can be a phrase that all together is a noun phrase.

「車を見た」＝"saw a car"
「車を聞いた」＝"heard a car"

The other important bit is that you can put の after a verb (の is like こと, and it is modified just like any other noun is, so the verb just hooks directly to it) to make the whole thing a noun phrase. The particles inside the phrase work like they would in a standalone sentence.

So, 「あなたが踊っている」＝"you are dancing" (action is ongoing)
「あなたが踊っているの」＝"(the fact/situation that) you are dancing" (action is ongoing)
It's 「あなたが」because あなた is the actor.

...and so all that is just the X in the various sentences above, the thing being seen.

「窓が割れているのを発見した」＝"(I/he/she/they/Susan) discovered that the window was broken"

「窓が割れている」＝"the window is broken" (it broke, and that situation of it having broken, is ongoing)
「窓が割れているの」＝"the situation/fact that the window is broken" (it broke, and that situation of it having broken, is ongoing)
Call that X, in the 「Ｘを発見した」above, and you see how the whole thing works out.

[xlightbringerx]

Wow, this is great info. Thank you again!