The slippery shade of difference between the verbs “watch” and “see”
Jose Carillo
November 7, 2009
Dear Fellow Communicators in English,
Is there a shade of difference between the verbs “watch” and “see” that we should bother with? You bet there is, and this is what I told a grammar partisan in a TV network who thought that those boxing-happy Filipino legislators should be “seeing” instead of “watching” the Pacquiao-Cotto fight in Las Vegas on November 14. The difference, I explained, is whether the act of observing is intended or unintended—a distinction that has unfortunately been blurred in the modern English idiom. This is why even as I offer a usa ge prescription for “watch” and “see,” I am challenging everyone to take a short grammar test for a much better grasp of these two slippery sense verbs.
Apart from this icebreaker of a story, Jose Carillo’s English Forum presents this week a semantic defense of PAGASA’s penchant for using the kilometric term “Philippine area of responsibility” when referring to typhoons about to hit the country, a practice TOEFL test for Reading Comprehension, some grammar stratagems for making the sense of a past repeated action stick, and—surprise of surprises—this bit of news about an educator’s blunt and fearless admonition to parents not to talk like Kris Aquino to their young children! As usual, of course, the Forum’s regular sections provide very interesting and provo cative updates that you absolutely shouldn’t miss.
THIS WEEK IN THE FORUM (November 7-13, 2009): · My Media English Watch: The Shade of Difference Between the Verbs “Watch” and “See” (Like boxing fans, there are grammar partisans over the sense verbs!) · You Asked Me This Question: Why Not “Soil” or “Land” For “Area of Responsibility”? (No paraphrase or synonym comes close to what it means) · How Good is Your English?: For TOEFL Reading Comprehension Test, Better Bone Up on Americana (This way, you won’t feel like a Martian when taking it) · Essays by Jose Carillo: Getting Used to Hurdling the Pitfalls of “Used To” (Some stratagems for making the sense of a past repeated action stick) · News and Commentary: Don’t Talk Like Kris Aquino to Your Children, Educator Urges Parents (For better literacy, nix her English-Tagalog mix!) · Readings About Language: Inoculating Ourselves Against All Those Journalistic Nonsense (Prescriptions for dealing with tomfoolery masquerading as truth) · Advice and Dissent: Our Flaming Love-Hate Affair With Wikipedia and E-mail (They’re such a bother but why is it that we just can’t have enough of both?) · Time Out from Grammar: Two Pathways, Two Wellsprings to a Good, Solid Education (Strong cultural literacy and, well, wandering ’round the world wisely)
See you at the Forum!
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