Jose Carillo's English Forum

English Grammar and Usage Problems => Use and Misuse => Topic started by: Spreen on June 25, 2009, 01:26:18 PM

Title: Can we use the verbs "see" and "watch" interchangeably?
Post by: Spreen 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.

Title: No, we can't use the verbs "see" and "watch" interchangeably
Post by: Joe Carillo on June 25, 2009, 03:45:44 PM

Quote from: Reagan on June 25, 2009, 01:26:18 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."