Tricky Words

Some people have trouble using the words SEE, LOOK and WATCH correctly.



Try these. Can you fill the gaps with the word SEE, LOOK or WATCH (or some other form of them)? Sometimes more than one answer is possible.


1) You can't ____ far in this heavy rain.

2) Anton and Jack ____ good tonight.

3) Did you ____ Empat Mata last night?

4) ____ out for pickpockets!

5) Can you ____ the blue car on the left?

6) ____ you tomorrow after work, ok?

7) It ____ like rain, doesn't it?

8) Oh yes, I ____ what you mean.

9) What's wrong? You ____ really unhappy.

10) I'm afraid Linda has to ____ the doctor.


Some of these are a little tricky, don't you think?

Give us your answers to the 10 questions above in the COMMENTS below.

See if this guideline helps:

look -to pay attention, to try to see what is there (if look is followed by an object, you must use a preposition which is usually 'at'); to seem or appear - examples: Look at the board, please; this assignment looks unfinished; Have you looked in the drawer?

see - to notice people and things with your eyes; visual impression; to understand; to visit - examples: Can you see the the blue car over there?; I see what you mean; It was so dark I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

watch - to look at something for a period of time, usually something which moves or changes - examples: He watches TV in the evenings; Adrian has been watching his weight recently; watch what happens when I turn the volume control all the way up!

'Look', 'see' and 'watch' are very similar. They are all ways of using our eyes. However, there are two very important differences. It depends on how you intend to look or watch and how intense the looking is.

When we say 'see' we are normally talking about things we can't avoid – so for example, "I opened the curtains and saw some birds outside." - I didn't intend to see them, it just happened.

However, when we use the verb 'look', we're talking about seeing something with an intention. So, "this morning I looked at the newspaper" – I intended to see the newspaper.

When we watch something, we intend to look at it but we're also looking at it quite intensely, usually because it's moving. So, for example, "I watched the bus go through the traffic lights." "I watched the movie." We want to see it, we're looking at it intensely and it's normally moving.