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Why watch TV not see it? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| TerryW Senior Member United States Joined 6357 days ago 370 posts - 783 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 9 of 13 02 June 2009 at 5:08am | IP Logged | ||
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I think to "see a movie" implies that you are going to a movie theater to watch it. As in "I'm going to see 'Spiderman' at the movies tonight." I would NOT use "watch" here. If you're going to watch the Spiderman movie that's being shown on TV, or from a DVD, I would NOT say "I'm going to see 'Spiderman' tonight," I'd say "I'm going to watch 'Spiderman tonight.'" Really! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| oz-hestekræfte Senior Member Australia Joined 5678 days ago 103 posts - 117 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Danish | Message 10 of 13 02 June 2009 at 6:42am | IP Logged | ||
To say "I am going to view the television", is not actually incorrect. It's just never said that way. Why? I imagine when tv was new, someone simply started saying "watching tv" and it stuck I agree with the above comments that suggest it cant really be explained. Well maybe it can be explained but it would probably be too confusing. Much easier to just copy the natives. Personally I think it's similar to when you learn an idiom. Often they make little or no literal sense, so you just accept that's what it means. Anyone care to explain this: ;) "Look through the view-finder and observe what happens.... keep watching.... Do you see it?" Edited by oz-hestekræfte on 02 June 2009 at 6:43am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JS-1 Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 5983 days ago 144 posts - 166 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Arabic (Egyptian), German, Japanese, Ancient Egyptian, Arabic (Written) | Message 11 of 13 02 June 2009 at 10:04am | IP Logged | ||
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Watching and looking imply active engagement by the viewer, whereas seeing is passive,
and may be the consequence of something else. "I walked into the room and saw a television, so I sat down and watched it." You happen to see a television in a room so you decide to watch it. "I walked into the room and watched the television, so I sat down and saw it." This looks like nonsense because it implies that you happen to notice the television that you are already looking at. Generally, you watch something as it does something. whereas looking focuses on the object itself and not what it is doing. I looked at the clouds. The focus is on the object itself. I watched the clouds going by. The focus is on them doing something. I looked at the clouds as they passed by. Even though they are moving, you are looking at the clouds themeselves, as opposed to what they are doing. So you can walk into a gallery and *see* lots of pictures (whether you choose to *look* at them or not) and *watch* the people walking around as they *look* at the pictures. While you *look* at the old masters, you could always *watch* the newer ones -as the paint dries:) Edited by JS-1 on 02 June 2009 at 10:23am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6909 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 12 of 13 02 June 2009 at 4:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hashimi - is "see"/"watch" the same verb in your native Arabic? And "look"?
What about verbs involving other senses? "Hear" vs. listen": -I heard the radio (somebody had turned it on). -I listened to the radio (my favourite program had just started). Sense/touch/feel is another group of verbs. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6894 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 13 of 13 02 June 2009 at 8:43pm | IP Logged | ||
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Another thing is that when you have "seen" a movie, or are going to "see" it, you are usually referring to watching through the whole thing from beginning to end.
"Watching" refers to the ongoing activity of following what is happening in the film while "seeing" it is figuratively equivalent to getting it under your belt. Once you have "seen" it you know what it's about. Been there, done that. "I'm going to see Spiderman tonight" ie. I am going to see the whole thing, either on TV or in the movies, but "I am going to watch Spiderman tonight", there you will start watching it and then you might change your mind and switch channels if you feel bored with it. This is one of the typical gotchas for Spanish learners, since in Spanish the verb "ver" (see) is used for television where you'd expect "mirar" (watch). Edited by Hencke on 02 June 2009 at 8:44pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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