100 Mistakes #25 - Look, Watch and See

When you look, you direct your eyes in one direction or another.

You can look at a painting.
You can look under a bed.
You can look behind the sofa.
You can look at an elaborately painted door (go on!)




When you watch, you focus your eyes on things that are changing, or things that you think are going to change.

You can watch a football match.
You can watch the TV.
You can watch the door (if you're expecting it to open.)

You see things that are in front of your eyes.

If you look somewhere, you will see whatever is there (unless it's too dark.)
If you watch something, you will see the developments that take place while you are watching.

So we use watch or look to talk about what a person is doing intentionally.
We use see to talk about what happens in front of their eyes.

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Let's look at some sentences:

Did you see Game of Thrones / the match last night?
Did you watch Game of Thrones / the match last night?

These questions are asking the same thing: if you watched it, then inevitably, you saw it.

An English speaker might sometimes say something like:

I saw it, but I wasn't really watching.

This means that Game of Thrones / the match was on the TV but that the speaker was not really paying attention.

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Now you have a go.

Choose between see, look at, and watch. Make sure you choose the correct form of the verb!
Sometimes, more than one answer is correct.

1. I ________ the Star Wars prequels and thought they were rubbish.

2. Have you ________ train times to London?

3. Did you remember to ________ lamps?

4. ________ that guy in the pink hat!

5. Did you ________ elephants in India?

6. ________ very carefully. It's very quick!

7. I haven't ________ him in ages.

8. I've never ________ Game of Thrones and have no intention of doing so!

9. Yes, I ________ the Mona Lisa but there were too many people to ________ it properly.


You can find the answers in the comments!