What’s the difference between verbs Look, See and Watch?

Time to get a bit serious and learn about phrasal verbs! Yeey! :)
What’s the difference between the verbs, Look, See and Watch?? Listen to this episode and find out!

Transcription

Hola muchachos, welcome to English Made Simple, This is episode 18, Numero 18.

Hey everybody how’s everybody doing? My name is Milena, thank you for joining me.

Welcome to new listeners, there are more listeners coming from Colombia, Argentina, España (Spain), Costa Rica, welcome!

Alright guys, so in the last episode we had a little bit of fun learning about modismo, English slang.

In this episode, we are going to be more serious. We are going to try to be more serious. Ok. Let’s get serious!

In this episode, I am going to answer a very common question, asked by my students. The question was, What is the difference between, the words to Look, to See, to Watch. A very good question! And these 3 words, have something in common. Something to do with your eyes, ojos. Ok with your eyes. So, to answer this question, I am going to refer to weon inteligente, which is the Cambridge Online Dictionary, that’s how I call it. Weon inteligente. The word look is defined, very simply, to direct your eyes in order to see something. Mirar (in Spanish). oTo look at something for a reason, with an intention. To direct your eyes in order to see. Great, that’s Look.

And in English language it’s very common to use the word Look, ok mirar. It’s very common to use it with a preposition. And if we use it with a preposition! This is called phrasal verb. If you don’t know what a phrasal verb is, you should go back to the episode 6 and episode 7, Introduction to phrasal verbs. In a nutshell, phrasal verb is a verb plus a preposition. And the most common preposition we use together with LOOK is AT. Look at. So with look at we are actually talking about a direction. Look at that strange man. Look at that car, look that really cool car. Look at my phone! Look AT my phone. Ok,I am telling you to look at my phone, giving you directions. That’s how we use Look, that’s the most common way to use the verb Look. Hmmm… maybe it would be a good idea to dedicate the next episode to this word Look, because there is just so many different collocations, and different phrasal verbs associated with this verb, so keep an eye out for the next episode, I am going to share more things with you, and we’ll learn more. So, another phrasal verb with Look, and which is also very very common is LOOK FOR. Look for, two words.  Look for, basically means to SEARCH, buscar. I am looking for my keys, my house keys. I don’t know where I put my house keys, maybe they are lost. I am looking for my house keys, means I am searching for my house keys. It’s very common to use the words Look For instead of Search, ok. It’s very common to hear people say I am loking for something, I am looking for my house keys, I am looking for…. Can be a person as well. I am looking for my friend, have you seen my friend? And, the last example I want to give you with the word Look and it’s also a phrasal verb, it’s Look Up. Up, as in Arriba. Look Up, two words. If there is a verb that you don’t understand in English you can look it up in the dictionary. Again, it’s a way of saying buscar, to search. It’s a way of saying to look for something, look it up . So just before we started the show, I went to weon intelligente, the Cambridge Online Dictionary, and I looked up the word Look in the dictionary to look for the definition of the word Look. haha Is that confusing? Haha Alright, it will make sense later, I will summarise everything, I will conclude this episode so it makes sense at the end. Now let’s move on to the next word: TO SEE, ver. TO SEE, again we are using our eyes. To see something, usually we use the verb to SEE when something is in your vision. When something comes into your sight or your vision, by accident or unintentionally,  you can say, did you see that Car? You go outside and your friend says, hey did you see that car? It looks pretty cool. It looks cool! Haha that car looks cool, it seems cool. Haha  Another way to use the word look. It seems cool. I saw my friend at a restaurant yesterday. So the verb to See is IRREGULAR, the past tense is SAW, and participle is SEEN. Have you seen the latest James Bond movie? Ok have you seen  the latest James Bond movie? Ok. I am asking you if you have EVER seen it! That’s when we use the verb to SEE. We also use the verb to see, when we agree with something or we want to say we understand. We understand, somebody is explaining something to you and you reply, Oh I see what you mean, ya veo. I see what you mean. I understand. In that case we use the verb SEE. I see what you mean. Yeah? Can you see what I mean? Good!

And finally! The Word Wwtch. Ok, let’s see! Oh! Let’s see! Haha There we go. I use this a lot. Let’s see what WATCH means. Veamos. Watch…

Now the word WATCH. So we talked about Look, See and now Watch. Ok.

To look at something carefully. Usually at something that’s moving. We usually use the word watch when we watch TV, because on the TV, or when we are watching TV, the images are moving, ok there is an action happening. And in that case we use the word WATCH. So I can say, I am watching the latest episode of Game of Thrones, Juego de Tronos. You can also use this word as a WARNING. For example, you are walking along the street minding your own business, and some idiot almost steps on your foot! You say, Hey man, watch where you’re going! You almost stepped on my foot. Ok hahah Watch where you are going.

Also when you drive you can say to the other drivers, you know, watch where you are going, blah blah blah, I am not going to swear now, no cursing! I am going to WATCH my tongue. Ok tongue, as in lengua. I am going to watch my tongue, because I have to be careful what I say, I can’t say bad words. Watch your tongue. Cuidado con lo que dices. Hmm… Watch Out!

It’s an expression to say Cuidado. Careful! Watch Out! Be Careful. I hope this made sense a little bit! I am going to summarize what I just explained about these 3 words. And the best way to explain, LOOK SEE & WATCH. I am going to use the TV as an example. I am going to use the word TV as an example. Ok here we go!

When I am at home, in the lounge, I can see the TV. I can see the TV box. I can see chairs, the sofa, table, Yeah, I can see all these things around me. Yeah. And I can see the TV. When I turn my TV on, I am watching Game of Thrones. Juego de Tronos. When I turn my TV on I can watch Game of Thrones. When I look at the TV, I can inspect if it’s damaged, if it’s scratched, if it’s an old TV and in a bad shape. I can look at it and say, hmmm I need to buy a new TV because this one is a bit….it’s in a bad shape. And I hope this makes sense! Alright. Easy Peasy Japanesy! :) Haha

Ok guys, Thank you. Thank you, hopefully it all makes sense. Please let me know if you have any questions, You can always send me a message, my details are in the shownotes. And I will try to answer your question on this Podcast. Excellent! Thank you guys for joining me and uhhhh talk to you soon! Hasta la proxima!

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