It is important for language teaching to show how grammar and meaning are interrelated in the structure of language. One way in which this interrelationship can be revealed is through an analysis of the activities and states of perceiving the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Examples of these pairs of perception verbs are presented in English (e.g. “listen to”– theactivityof using the ears; “hear”—thestateof using the ears), and the constraints which operate upon these verbs are discussed in some detail. The paper concludes with examples of perception verbs in other languages and a discussion of a third type of perception verb, resultative verbs (e.g. “to sound”—theresultof the state o