Happy Halloween~! Also see/watch/look...

Hey everyone, Happy Halloween~!

Here in Kyoto, it is a pretty dreary rainy evening but I want to post at least 5 blogs this month so I am taking the time from my studies to write up a mini-lesson about watch/see/look.

Look is often used to called attention to something, you want someone to focus on something. Usually, just for a short time...

Look at that~! It's a UFO.

UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object.

I feel like that painting is looking/watching at me.

See is simply the physical action, something happens in front of you and you see it... BUT you may not be paying attention. It isn't always all that important what you saw...

I saw a black cat on my way to work today.

Did you see the chair move by itself??? Watch the chair to see if it happens again~!

Watch is where you focus your attention on something for a longer period of time than look.

I feel like someone is watching/looking me. But no one is here, maybe it's a ghost...

Can you watch my bag? (meaning look AFTER, keep an eye on)

So as you can see look and watch are pretty close in meaning. BUT be careful we never say look TV~! It's always watch TV.

We often use see to emphasize GOING somewhere to see something(ex: a play, a movie, etc.)

I saw a movie.

Probably means he saw a movie at a theater, and:

I watched a movie.

Probably means he watched a movie at home. This is just general usage, it isn't a rule so sometimes people say watched a movie at the theater or saw a movie on my new flatscreen TV.

For more on see/watch/look check out these past posts:

http://phils-english.blogspot.com/2008/07/see-look-watch-and-stare-part.html

http://phils-english.blogspot.com/2008/07/see-look-watch-and-stare-part-b.html

http://phils-english.blogspot.com/2010/07/look-vs-look-like.html

Have a good weekend,

Phi

Look vs. Look like...

Do you guys know the difference in when to use these two expressions?

It's actually pretty simple:

look like + noun

This cookie looks like a hamburger~!


That dog looks like a cat, weird.


He looks like an idiot.



look + adjective


You look hungry.

That cake looks delicious.

He looks stupid.


There are a few things you need to be careful about. Some nouns are ALSO adjectives so both structures are grammatically correct.

That looks like fun.

That looks fun.

Fun is both a noun AND an adjective so you can often hear it used with look or look like. The other thing is that the meaning of these two is a bit different, in my mind look is like ~sou (oishisou-look delicious, ureshisou-looks happy) but look like is like ~mitai (kodomomitai-looks like a child, bakamitai-looks like an idiot).

I hope that helps, have a good weekend!

Phil

See, look, watch and stare... Part A

Ok, I just got back from working in Minami-Kusatsu and my girlfriend is coming over so this lesson will be broken into two parts and I should be posting Part B tomorrow. Today, I will go over stare and look.

LOOK

There are three different uses of look I will go over today:

1- look at= to turn your eyes in a specific directions. It is often used to point something out or to call attention to something.

ex:

1. Look at that! (look at that thing)
2. I want to look at that poster. (let's go and focus our eyes on that poster)
3. He's looking at you. (his eyes are focusing on you)

2- look for= to search for something/someone, to try and find something/something.

ex:

1. I am looking for my friend Jim. (I am trying to find Jim in a crowd)
2. What are you looking for? (a store clerk asking what do you want?)
3. I always look for good books to read. (try to find a good book to read)

3- look like =to be similar in appearance to someone or something.

ex:

1. He looks like Johnny Depp. (His appearance is similar to Johnny Depp's)
2. That looks like fun. (It appears to be fun)
3. That lamp looks like a fish. (The lamp is shaped like a fish)

Stare

stare = to look at someone or something for a long time, to look at someone or something intently.

ex:

1. It is rude to stare. (social rule)
2. Stop staring at me~! (angry person telling you to stop looking at them)
3. What are you staring at? (angry person has caught you looking at them and may want to fight)

When I was young, we used to have staring contests. This is when two people look at each until someone blinks. The person who blinks first is the loser. To blink, is to open and close your eyes quickly.

Ok more tomorrow, have a nice Sunday night!

Phil