In the text below
Suicides liked the bridge. The cop didn't think of that until he saw the man get out of the car, walk slowly along the footpath at the edge, and put a hand on a rail.
Why the writer didn't say
"Suicides liked the bridge. The cop didn't think of that until he saw the man got out of the car, walked slowly along the footpath at the edge, and put a hand on a rail."
Why the writer has used the present tenses instead of past tenses?
Best Answer
This is the correct form. The verbs get, walk, put aren't present-tense forms but unmarked infinitives (unmarked means they aren't 'marked' with to). That is one of the two verbforms† which are permitted in clauses which act as complements to most verbs of perception, like see, hear, notice.
It is sometimes difficult to distinguish an unmarked infinitive from the plain present form, because there is only one verb in which they are different: be, whose plain present form is are.
But when, as in your example, the verb's subject calls for a 3d-person singular form, it is easy to tell the difference. If these were present forms, the sentence would read
† The other one is the present participle; you could also write
But the participle is usually used to say what someone is doing at a particular moment, not a series of things done; so the infinitive is preferred here.