see

Question

Hello,1.  Please see at the blackboard.2. Please look at the blackboard.I know that (2) is correct?But I want to know the differences between the "see"  and "look" .(usage  point of view)

Emily__ · Accepted Answer

"Have a look and see what’s going on"

Maybe that´ll help.

Ruslana · Answer

#2 is correct and #1 sounds wrong to me.

Sometimes the usages are different, as in Emily's example, but sometimes they are nearly the same, for instance: let me see = let me look at it (let me have a look - here "look" is a noun, though).

CalifJim · Answer

In 99% of cases, look at means something roughly like try to see, make an effort to see, direct your powers of sight toward, attend visually.
In comparison, see is relatively lacking in effort. (There is no form see at.)

When you look at something, you actively do something. You pay attention with your eyes.
When you see something, you simply react to it. Its presence is simply noted. You notice it with your eyes.
Because look at is a more active process, we can look at things closely, just as we can examine things closely. But it doesn't make sense to say that we see things closely. look at is more like examine; see is more like notice.

-- Do you see the book on the table?
-- Yes, I see it. (I am able to see. I am not blind. I see that the book is there on the table.)
-- Look at the book. (Direct your attention toward the book.)
-- I am looking at the book. What's so special about it?
-- No. You are not looking at it closely enough. Look at the cover. Don't you see that it is damaged?
-- Oh, yes. Now that I look at it more closely, I see that the cover of the book is damaged.

CJ

Hanuman_2000 · Answer

Hello,

Thanks a lot.

see

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions