Author Topic: Can we use the verbs "see" and "watch" interchangeably?  (Read 3367 times)

Spreen

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Can we use the verbs "see" and "watch" interchangeably?
« on: June 25, 2009, 01:26:18 PM »

Can we use the verbs "see" and "watch" interchangeably in this sentence, "I was ___ a legendary movie when my mom gave me a phone call."?

Xie xie (Thanks indeed), Sir Joe.
« Last Edit: March 22, 2014, 07:23:51 AM by Joe Carillo »

Joe Carillo

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No, we can't use the verbs "see" and "watch" interchangeably
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2009, 03:45:44 PM »
June 25, 2009

Hello, Sir Joe!

Can we use the verbs "see" and "watch" interchangeably in this sentence, "I was ______ a legendary movie when my mom gave me a phone call."?

Xie xie (Thanks indeed), Sir Joe.

Reagan

No, although "see" and "watch" are synonymous, we can't use them interchangeably in this context. It sounds very awkward and seriously unidiomatic to say, "I was seeing a legendary movie when my mom gave me a phone call." The only idiomatically acceptable construction using "see" that I can think of is the past-progressive form "was going to see...a movie," as in "I was going to see a legendary movie when my mom gave me a phone call."