Today we will talk about the difference between three words, LOOK, SEE, WATCH, which at first glance are similar in meaning. When to use them and how to do it correctly? Read the article, find out more, and I’m sure this topic will become easy and understandable for you!
LOOK
LOOK – glance at someone. This verb is used with a preposition AT – LOOK AT. For example, you came to the store with a friend, she chooses a dress, and you choose sunglasses. You put on funny glasses and want to tell her, look at me – look at me , or look at my glasses – look at my glasses. That is, you are trying to attract the attention of others:
look at him- Look at him
look at my dress- look at my dress
We can also use the verb LOOK in meaning " to look like" For example, you are meeting a friend, he looks great, and you tell him: You look good!- You look good!
He looks good.- He looks good.
She looks better then yesterday.- She looks better than yesterday.
A useful phrasal verb you can use when you want to warn of danger is - LOOK OUT! (Carefully!)
SEE
SEE – see. In this case, you take a voluntary action and look at something or see something yourself.
I saw my friends yesterday.– I saw my friends yesterday.
Did you see me yesterday?– Did you see me yesterday?
SEE also used to mean " see you" When saying goodbye to a friend, you say "See you!" — See you!
See you tomorrow!- See you tomorrow!
See you later!- See you later!
See you soon!- See you soon!
WATCH
WATCH — watch something. In this case, you are in a static position, and the object or person you are observing is moving or changing. You can watch children, the sea, the sunset, you can watch someone.
I'm watching sunrise.- I'm watching the sunrise.
That's all! I hope the article was useful, interesting and answered your questions. Thank you for reading to the end!
Your Polina Chervova
Look
The Russian word "to look" is generic. In English, the situation is completely different. What matters here is how to look (way and manner), what to look at, and even the emotions that accompany this process. In general, you can count about 13 verbs that denote this action. But let's take things in order.
See - in addition to the fact that this word is translated as “to see,” that is, it denotes the physical ability to see with the eyes, it will be used when talking about watching a film, play, performance: to see a film/play/performance.
Watch - to observe. That is, to follow the development of events; it is also used when talking about what is moving or will soon begin to move. For example:
From the window he watched John cycle down the broad path led towards the gates.
He watched and listened. There was no movement and no sound.
When talking about television, any sport, or horse racing, the verb watch is more suitable:
To watch TV (to see smth on TV - also possible)
To watch a football match (to see a football match - also possible)
Typical error: He sat seeing the planes taking off.
Correct: He sat watching the planes taking off.
Why is this so? Because we follow or watch planes take off, rather than just see them.
Look (at) - look (at). This is a phrasal verb and the postposition at after it is required if the word is used in the meaning look at something, someone. Therefore the error would be:
I stood in front of the window, looking at the trees.
Right: I stood in front of the window, looking at the trees.
Try not to confuse look with watch or see. You can't say: I stayed in and looked at a film on television.
Right: I stayed in and watching a film on television.
Error: The lecturer asked us to see carefully what he was doing.
Right: The lecturer asked us to look carefully at what he was doing.
In the latter case, the lecturer asked to watch, and not to see what he was doing.
If you use other prepositions, or rather postpositions, after the verb look, then its meaning will change slightly. For example:
- to look behind - look back
- to look back - look back
- to look up - look up
- to look forward - look forward
- to look aside - look to the side
- to look the other way - turn away
- to look about/around - look around, look around
- to look through - view (magazine)
- to look into - look into (water, darkness)
But here you need to be careful, because some postpositions will change the meaning of the verb look radically, however, this is also typical for other phrasal verbs. Compare:
- to look for - search
- to look after - to look after, look after
- to look over - carefully study, check
Glance (at) - look (at). This verb is used to describe a quick glance, a glance. Perhaps when someone is looking at something while looking up and down. Look with one eye, barely notice. For example: I saw them glance at each other as if they knew something I did not. It is clear that in this example people quickly looked at each other and looked away.
This verb is also used with other postpositions depending on the meaning of the sentence.
She glanced back. - She looked back.
He glanced through the newspaper. - He looked through the newspaper.
Glazing into the kitchen he realized that no one was at home. - Looking into the kitchen, he realized that there was no one at home.
This verb can be replaced with the phrase “give a glance”. Note:
Wrong: She made a quick glance over her shoulder to see if he was following her.
Right:
Stare (at) - look closely (at), keep your eyes (with). When do people look like that? When they feel very interested or feel irritated or angry. For example: He stared at the newcomer. - He looked intently at the newcomer. The children stared at the elephant in wonder. - The children stared in amazement at the elephant. Examples with other prepositions:
He stared into her eyes. - He looked intently into her eyes.
He sat staring ahead of him. - He sat, staring ahead.
The white benches stared against the green of the grass. - White benches stood out against the green grass.
Gaze (at) - contemplate, peer, look at one point. They lay down and gazed at the clouds passing overhead. - They lay and watched the clouds floating above them. Example with another preposition:
He sat and gazed into the distance lost in thought. - He sat and stared into the distance, immersed in his thoughts.
There are other verbs that convey different styles of “looking”:
Eye - to look someone from head to toe, to examine, to look at something with interest or displeasure, to gaze. The two teams eyed each other suspiciously, waiting for the game to begin. - The two teams looked at each other suspiciously, waiting for the game to start.
Gape (at) - stare, stare for a long time, look with your mouth open (in surprise or surprise). She stood gaping at me too shocked to speak. “She stared at me in amazement, unable to say anything.
Peep (at) - to peep (into a small hole), to look, to look furtively. The moon peeped out from behind the clouds. - The moon peeked out from behind the clouds.
Squint (at) - look askance, squint, squint (if it’s hard to see). He squinted at the neighbor's newspaper. - He glanced sideways at the neighbor's newspaper.
Peer (at) - to peer, peer (trying to see something that is difficult to see due to poor vision or lighting). She took off her glasses and peered at him. - She took off her glasses and, squinting myopically, looked at him.
Glare (at) - to look long and angrily, without taking your eyes off, with indignation, to cast a fierce glance. She didn’t say anything but just sat there glaring at me. - She didn’t say anything, but just sat there, looking angrily at me.
Scowl (at) - look gloomily, cast an angry, angry look. She scowled and told them to get out. - She frowned and told them to get out.
We continue our series of articles about synonyms that can confuse a beginner learning English. Well, today our selection includes the extremely productive verb look, which forms a dozen phrasal verbs with different meanings. But first things first.
See
This verb describes one of our feelings. "To see something" means seeing something that comes into your field of vision, even if you didn’t really want to see it. In some ways this verb is similar in meaning to the verb "to notice", "notice".Examples:And another common meaning of this verb is “to understand”, that is, a synonym for the verb “to understand”:
I saw Trevor at the shopping center yesterday.
Did you see my new bag?
Also, the verb “to see” can be used to mean “let’s see”:
We'll see how it goes. If this option doesn't work for him, we'll find something else.
Let's see if we can find it.
-I couldn’t send the letter because the post office was closed yesterday.
-Oh, I see.
By the way, in spoken English you can hear the phrase "you see" when explaining something akin to ours "understand?". True, in writing "you see" doesn't need a question mark. Americans often replace this phrase with “you see/know what I mean?”. Of course, this will allow you to enliven your speech, but you should not overuse these phrases.
Here are a couple of harmless examples using “you see”:
They had no children. They married late, you see.
He’s not quite fast, you see. Got almost zero chance to win the race.
The verb “to see” can also be used to mean “to visit or see someone”, “to visit some place”:
We went to see my parents at the weekend.
Have you seen Laura lately?
Another popular expression see you later means see you (meet) later.
Few people know, but the verb "to see"- phrasal and can change meaning depending on the preposition that follows it. For example, see about- arrange, organize, see into- escort inside the premises, see out- escort from the premises, see off- to accompany someone on departure or drive away, see through- to do something inside and out, and also to see right through someone (when a person is lying), see to- provide something, take care of something.
And don’t forget an interesting point: in Russian we just say "I see", "I hear", but in English they don’t say that. You must add a verb "can": "I can see you!", "I can hear you".
Watch
Unlike the verb "to see" where we see something regardless of our desire, verb "to watch" is used for a completely voluntary and long-term action and means "look", "observe" Students usually say right away "watch films", and in this phrase the verb is used correctly, because we watch films for a long time.Here's another examples with this verb:Please note two important points. Firstly, if you are looking at a person, then it is better to use the verb "to look" because if you say "I watched him", then it will mean "I was watching him". Agree, "looked" And "observed"- two different concepts. Secondly, if you want to say "I went to see a movie yesterday" or "I saw this movie", then it won't be "watch", a "see".
We watch TV every evening.
My cat likes watching what's happening in the garden.
For example:
'Bladerunner'? Yeah, I've seen it.
"Watch"- this is rather a process, and in our example they talk about the result. “See” is also used in cases where you are talking about the place where you saw the film. Compare and example:
I watched ‘Interstellar’ with my friends last night. - I watched the film at home.
I saw ‘Interstellar’ last night. - I watched a film in the cinema.
So if you went to watch a sports match, a movie, a circus performance or a theater performance, then this will all be "see».
Look
The basic meaning of this verb is "look", "take a look". That is, the action described by this verb lasts a short time. And the difference from verbs "to see" and “to watch” here will be obvious even in Russian: "see", "look" And "look".For the meaning of "look" to the verb "to look" need to add a preposition "at":Simple exclamation "Look!" will mean "Look!", "Look!".
Charlie, look at you! All dirty again!
The special phrase gives us the same meaning "to have a look":
Have a look at his drawings, I think he’s got some talent.
And, as we said above, "to look" is a very productive verb. You can attach many different prepositions to it, and then it completely changes the meaning. Some phrasal verbs with look are quite understandable without a dictionary: look around- look around, look up- look up or look up a word in the dictionary, look away- look away. But there are also less obvious ones: look up to- take an example from someone, look for- search, look after- look after, take care. All phrasal verbs with "to look" The easiest way to learn is by writing down phrases about yourself. If you immediately apply new knowledge, it will be easier for you to remember it.
And, of course, do not forget that verbs "to see", "to look" And "to watch"- basic. They have a lot of synonyms that will convey shades of meaning. Just like ours: "take a quick look", "stare", "stare" etc. We have made a small selection of synonyms for you.
See
Detect
Recognize
Observe
View
Notice
Examine
Look
(to) Eye
Inspect
Stare
Gape
Glance
Spot
Watch
Keep an eye on
Scrutinize
Gaze
Keep your eyes peeled
Scan
Contemplate
Learn English with
Look, see, watch - three related verbs that mean “look, see, observe.” Their use poses some difficulties. This article talks about the differences between the three verbs. Example sentences with look, see, watch will help you understand how to use them correctly. There is an exercise at the end of the article to help test your understanding of these key verbs.
Look (at)
Use a verb look (at) to say that you or someone else is looking consciously at specific objects. Look means to look at something specific for a short period of time, as opposed to watch , which involves observing events over time.
He looks at the ceiling and saw a huge spot. (He looked at the ceiling and saw a huge stain.)
Sonya looked at her child and smiled.(Sonya looked at her child and smiled.)
Svan looks down the street.(Svan looks out into the street.)
Look
usually used with the preposition at
. However, when using look
in the imperative mood at
not used if there is no action object:
Look back!
(Look around!)
Look! It's a celebrity!
(Look! It's a celebrity!)
Use look at
in the imperative mood, if there is an object of action, that is, it specifically indicates what to look at:
Look at his new car.(Look at his new car.)
Look at that tree. Someone is hiding behind it.(Look at this tree. Someone is hiding behind it.)
See
See — see someone or something. This verb is used when we see something not intentionally, but because we have eyes.
My sister has seen a ghost in the old mansion.(My sister saw a ghost in an old mansion.)
Has anyone seen my ball I left there yesterday?(Did anyone see my ball that I left there yesterday?)
I saw an amazing rainbow two days ago. (Two days ago I saw an amazing rainbow.)
Compare with look at And watch, which are used when you look at something with special attention: look at - you are looking at something specific, watch — you watch something that changes over time - a movie, for example, or a television show.
Lily saw her father at the meeting.(Lily saw her father at the meeting) - simply using sight.
Ivonna looked at her mother’s skirt. There was a hole!(Yvonne looked at her mother’s skirt. There was a hole there!) - focus on a specific object.
She watched children playing at the backyard for ten minutes.(She watched the children playing in the backyard for ten minutes.) - observing the children's movements and actions over a period of time.
Do not use see in progressive forms of verbs () , because see used to express fact rather than action.
Verb see also used to express that an experience is complete. For example:
You can say: watch a film And see a film
The first case refers to watching a film at some point, and the second case refers to the fact that this film has already been seen, the action is completed.
Compare:
I saw a good movie yesterday. (applies to the film as a whole)
I was watching the news when you called.(refers to the news watching activity that was interrupted by a phone call.)
See = Visit
Verb see can also be used to mean to visit (to attend), or to have a meeting scheduled, also in the meaning to understand (understand)
Olga saw a doctor last week.(Olga visited the doctor last week.)
He will see the interviewer in two days.(He has a meeting with the interviewer in two days.)
They have seen the chairman of the commission.(They met with the Chairman of the Commission.)
You can't walk your dog there, Sir. — Oh, I see, I’m sorry
(Sir, you cannot walk your dog here. - Oh, I understand, sorry.)
Watch
Watch - look at something changing over time. Watch similar to look at , but refers to an action that occurs in time, and look at - is to look at something specific.
They watched the TV-program every night.(Every evening they watched a television program.)
I know that she likes to watch sitcoms.(I know she likes watching sitcoms.)
Did you watch that movie yesterday?(Did you watch this movie yesterday?)
Compare with the following sentence, in which look
used in the meaning of “to look in order to find out information.”
She looked at the schedule on the wall.(She looked at the schedule on the wall.)
See, look (at) or watch?
These three words in English are synonyms, the Russian equivalents of which are the verbs “see” and “look”. However, there are several nuances here, which we will consider below.
Verb see used to denote what is in our field of vision, regardless of whether we focus on it or not.
Suddenly I saw something strange.
Did you see the article about the strike in today`s paper?
- look (at)
Word look used in talking about what we focus our attention on and where we direct our gaze. This is its main difference from see. Compare:
I looked at the photo, but I didn`t see anybody I knew.
Do you see that man? ~Yes. ~Look again. ~Good heavens! It`s Moriarty!
He looked at her with his eyes full of love.
With action object look communicates with a pretext at. If there is no object in the sentence, no preposition is used. Compare:
Lookatme!
Look!
Before words starting with a letter combination wh, preposition at often missed.
Look who`s here!
Look where you're going.
- watch
According to the meaning of the word watch similar to look, but suggests that something is happening or about to happen. In other words, this verb describes the view of something that moves, changes or develops.
I usually watch a football match on Saturday afternoon.
- complete experiences: see
Verb watch usually used when talking about what is happening before our eyes while in process. When talking about an event as a whole (film, play, match, etc.), preference is given to see. Compare:
He got into a fight yesterday afternoon while he was watching a football match.
Have you ever seen Chaplin`s ‘The Great Dictator’?
- watchTV
Verb watch usually used to mean “watch TV.” When talking about a TV show, you can use watch, And see.
You spend too much time watching TV.
We watched/saw a great film on TV last night.
- seeif/whether
Verb see accompanied by prepositions if And whether means "to recognize".
See if that suit still fits you.
Ring up and see whether she`s in.