“See” means to notice something without trying; “look” means to turn your eyes towards something on purpose (“look at”); “watch” means to look for some time at something that moves or changes. Compare: “see a friend in the street”, “look at a photo”, “watch a match”.
see, look or watch — can you pick the right one?
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see + noun; look at + noun; watch + TV/film/match; watch + person + -ing
- I saw your brother at the train station this morning.
- Look at this chart: our sales doubled in March.
- We watched the final at a café near our hotel.
What changed
First versionIn the evenings my parents look TV for hours.
RevisionIn the evenings my parents watch TV for hours.
You do look at the screen, but TV, a match or a series is something you follow for a long time as the action develops. That is “watch”.
For a film at the cinema, people often say “see”, and for a film at home or on TV, “watch”: “We saw a great film at the cinema last night.” A play is usually “see” as well: “see a play”.
Your turn
I didn't ___ the accident: I only heard a loud bang from the street.
Show the answer
see — The accident happened suddenly, and the only question is whether the speaker noticed it. That is “see”. “Watch” would mean deliberately following what was happening for some time.
Describe an evening in town. Use all three verbs: who or what you happened to see, what you looked at on purpose and what you watched for a while.
Yesterday evening I saw an old friend in the city centre, looked at the menu of a new café and watched a football match there.
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