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Why watch TV not see it? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Hashimi Senior Member Oman Joined 6259 days ago 362 posts - 529 votes  Speaks: Arabic (Written)* Studies: English, Japanese | Message 1 of 13 01 June 2009 at 4:51pm | IP Logged | |||||
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WHICH SYNONYM TO USE?? English has lots of synonyms which seem very similar if not identical in meaning. Although synonyms are grouped up in a thesaurus, that doesn't mean the words are identical. Even if their official meanings are identical, different synonyms convey subtly different moods and ideas. You can watch a movie or see a movie, but you can only watch TV, never see it. You can't view either of them, even though when you watch either of them, you become a viewer (and never a watcher, much less a seer!) How can you explain that to someone who speaks Arabic like me?! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5669 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 2 of 13 01 June 2009 at 5:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I believe that "watching something" is an unfolding process. It takes place over time. It means to "observe changes". So, you can watch the changing weather, or watch a movie. However, you could not watch a wall, because nothing changes, the state of the wall remains the same over time. However, you could watch a spider on the wall if the spider was doing something, but you are unlikely to watch the spider if it stood without moving - since there would be no unfolding process.
To "see something" is a single event. It means to "notice that it exists". You can see a wall, or an unmoving spider. Noticing the existence of the wall or spider would only last for a moment. So, it is not the process you are interested in, but the result (i.e. having noticed something) However, this is complicated by the past tense. Since, people usually say "I saw a movie last night" (rather than "I watched a movie") - because they are usually talking about a completed act, rather than explaining an unfolding process. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Lizzern Diglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5909 days ago 791 posts - 1053 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: Japanese | Message 3 of 13 01 June 2009 at 6:34pm | IP Logged | |||||
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A lot of ways of saying things in certain languages aren't going to make sense if we stick with our 'old' way of thinking (from our L1) too much, so I find that for me with most things it makes sense to simply ignore the reasons and say: BECAUSE. That's how the natives say it, figure it out, learn it, own it, and use it that way. The end.
Many native speakers won't be able to explain to you why they say things the way they do, indeed there aren't always reasons, this would be one case where I don't think it's clear-cut enough that you could pick any random native speaker off the street and have them provide an instant explanation. Not trying to be mean, just sayin' :-) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| rapp Senior Member United States Joined 5731 days ago 129 posts - 204 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, Spanish | Message 4 of 13 01 June 2009 at 7:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I think also that "watch" implies a level of attention that "see" doesn't.
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| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5838 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 5 of 13 01 June 2009 at 7:13pm | IP Logged | |||||
I agree with this - a native speaker is not always the best person to explain why something is the way it is. Somebody who himself has learnt the language from scratch is more aware of the pitfalls and has thought through why something is said in the way that it is. The native has probably never reflected on it. As for the original question: You can't "study" and "learn" some of the finer nuances - you have to give it time, and you have to read a lot, listen to radio, audio books, TV etc in English. That way you will learn without even noticing yourself. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Hashimi Senior Member Oman Joined 6259 days ago 362 posts - 529 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written)* Studies: English, Japanese | Message 6 of 13 01 June 2009 at 11:14pm | IP Logged | |||||
If I am a learner, that means I learn something. If I am a player, it means I play something. But why TV viewers do not view TV?
I agree with you. Bun don't you thinks it's weird? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Lizzern Diglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5909 days ago 791 posts - 1053 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: Japanese | Message 7 of 13 01 June 2009 at 11:27pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Sure do, but I think the weirdness is what makes it fun to learn :-)
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| skeeterses Senior Member United States angelfire.com/games5Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6618 days ago 302 posts - 356 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Korean, Spanish | Message 8 of 13 02 June 2009 at 3:42am | IP Logged | |||||
You can use the verb 'see' with TV. But the words 'view' and 'viewer' are more formal and not used as often in English speech. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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