Differences between see look and watch with examples and exercises

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good morning

oh and in case i don’t see you good

afternoon good evening and good night

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look see and watch are verbs that we use

to talk about our sense of sight

but they have important differences in

meaning

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c means to notice or become aware of

someone or something by using your eyes

we use c to mean simply that an image

comes into our eyes

as soon as we open our eyes we see

things that means we see automatically

we don’t have to make any effort

examples

i didn’t see you at the party last night

this weather is terrible

i can’t see anything i saw jack at the

party

look means to direct your eyes in a

particular direction

when we look we try to see we make a

special effort

we concentrate our eyes on something

examples

i like to look at the stars at night

mary looked at the picture and smiled

he looked at the bill before he paid it

watch means to look at someone or

something for an amount of time

and pay attention to what is happening

with the verb we are much more active

watches

like look but requires more effort from

us

we watch things that are going to move

or change in some way

and we watch the movements and changes

examples the police decided to watch the

suspected murderer rather than arrest

him immediately

they hoped he would lead them to the

body

i like to sit on my balcony and watch

people walk by

i watch movies every day on tv

we use watch for movies and television

at home and see for public performances

for example i saw los angeles lakers

play at staples center last month

i watched los angeles lakers play on the

tv

last night we stayed home and watched

some movies on television

have you ever seen your favorite singer

live on stage

if you were talking about something that

your eyes simply observe

you can use c if you are directing your

eyes at something

use look and if you are paying attention

to something

like a game or television program for a

period of time use watch

remember practice makes perfect

so have a go at the following exercise

to practice using

c look and watch

can you see the blue car on the left

don’t look at the sun with naked eyes

watch me very carefully when you dance

don’t look down

i like to go to the zoo to watch the

animals when they are eating

look the plane is taking off did you see

the advert in the newspaper

i’m going outside for a minute would you

please watch my bag

did you see how he kicked the ball when

i shut my eyes i can see strange visions

cats can see in the dark

look at those beautiful pictures can you

watch the baby a minute i’ll be right

back

it’s very dark i can’t see anything

i usually watch television in the

evenings

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don’t look at me like that i didn’t do

anything wrong

i couldn’t see anything in the dark i

like to watch football matches on tv

please look at the clock and tell me

what time it is

do you see that man in the blue shirt

other meanings for c understand

i see what you mean imagine

i don’t see that you can meet

i saw him at the weekend find out

i’ll see what time it starts date

we have been seeing each other for three

months

other meanings for look appear or seem

she looks happy face a direction

the garden looks south search

i’m looking for my keys

other meanings for watch guard

the prisoner will be closely watched

keep up on i have been watching the

exchange rate

be careful of something watch your

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language

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you