WATCH Basic Verbs Learn English Grammar
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hi everybody welcome back to know your
verbs my name is Alicia and in this
lesson we’re going to look at the verb
watch let’s get started
so the basic definition of the verb
watch is to focus the eyes on something
that is moving usually we expect it to
move so like now you’re watching this
video in a sentence let’s watch a movie
later can I call you back I’m watching a
baseball game so let’s look at the
conjugations for this verb present watch
watches past watched past participle
watched progressive watching
now let’s talk about some additional
meanings of this verb the first
additional meaning is to stay with
someone or to stay with something to
ensure safety like to kind of guard that
thing or to protect that thing examples
I have to watch my neighbor’s kids for a
couple hours can you watch my plants for
a while next month okay so in both of
these sentences we see the verb watch is
used to mean ensure the safety of
something in the first example sentence
it’s I have to watch my neighbor’s kids
so we’re ensuring the safety of the kids
in the second sentence we use plants can
you watch my plants it doesn’t mean like
forever like watch the plants grow it
means just make sure my plants are okay
while I’m out of town for something
similar it doesn’t mean watch my plants
forever it just means to make sure my
plants are safe like to take care of my
plants while I’m out of town for example
so also the nuance here the feeling here
is that this is just a temporary
situation so when we’re watching
someone’s kids or like watching
someone’s pet while they’re away it’s
just a temporary situation okay let’s go
to the second extra meaning for today
the second one the second meaning of
watch is to be careful of something to
be careful at something examples watch
your language
he needs to watch his weight so in both
of these we could replace be careful
with watch so in the first one we could
say be careful of your language in the
second one be careful of your weight so
in other words there’s some kind of
danger or you need to be careful because
some of the thing about your behavior or
something you’ve said something you’ve
done is maybe not a good idea so be
careful of that thing but we say watch
instead watch that thing instead of be
careful of that thing in addition so we
can also just use watch out as a set
phrase which means be careful in general
so if we’re in a situation where we
quickly want to warn someone of
something like danger something bad
might happen
we can say watch out really quickly so
watch out doesn’t mean like look or
watch something it means be careful we
always say watch out if you have time
and if you want to be specific you can
say watch out for something like watch
out for that car or watch out for that
child watch out for those bees watch out
for your computer it’s gonna follow
something like that we always say watch
out for or just in quick situations
watch out just means be careful as well
all right let’s go on to the first
variation so the first variation is
watch it watch it so watch it also means
be careful like watch out or just the
regular watch you’re something but watch
it is very casual and actually kind of
aggressive so watch it implies like if
you don’t take care I might do something
bad to you like it’s so it’s quite an
aggressive phrase examples watch it I’m
walking you better watch it kid you
better watch it or else I’m gonna do
something bad to you I don’t know so its
aggressive it’s an aggressive phrase and
you should not use it with people who
are above you you should not use it in
polite situations I would not really
recommend using this but you might see
this in TV shows in other media watch it
it means be careful but its aggressive
okay let’s go to the next variation the
next variation is to keep watch to keep
watch this means like to stand guard to
guard against like to protect something
this expression means like to guard
against danger and it often means alone
like often you’re doing it by yourself
while someone else likes sleeps so
examples I’m going to keep first watch
tonight you keep watch I’m going to get
some sleep so to keep watch means to
like to stay awake or to stay alert
looking for something that might be
dangerous so you can see this in movies
where like people are travelling
somewhere they’re camping out on the
side of the road like maybe in Lord of
the Rings or something where everybody’s
sleeping but one person is awake near
the fire watching to see if anything
dangerous happens and then they wake up
other people if something dangerous is
coming so they’re sort of the guard in
that case so to keep watch in that case
ok let’s go to the last variation
umm the last variation ok the last
variation is to watch ones back to watch
ones back mmm so to watch your back
let’s use that to watch your back means
to be cautious
about your safety to be cautious about
your safety so to be careful about
yourself
not because of some like physical object
like a bus is gonna come and get you
I don’t know no it means like someone an
enemy might try to do something bad to
you so watch your back examples of this
you’d better watch your back Stevens one
more example hey watch your back you’re
making enemies so in these cases watch
your back is said rather seriously and
with the meaning that you need to be
careful someone might try to hurt you in
the future it could be physically it
could be financially it could be like
your reputation whatever
watch your back mean be careful like
someone might try to hurt you in some
way however be careful this expression
watch your back is totally different
from got your back so watch your back
and got your back totally different got
your back is a support phrase like I’ve
got your back means I’m supporting you
no problem I will try to help you or
I’ll try to support you I’ll try to keep
you safe
I’ve got your back no problems watch
your back means be careful you might be
in danger you should be careful you have
enemies so quite different watch your
back got your back alright so I hope
that you got a few new meanings for the
verb watch that you can use there if you
have any questions comments or if you
want to try to use the verb watch please
feel free to do so in the comment
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for other good study resources thanks
very much for watching this episode of
know your verbs and we’ll see you again
next time bye
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