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Which of the following verbs is most commonly used with movie? Or are they both used, but the connotations are different?

I watched a good movie yesterday.

I saw a good movie yesterday.

Community
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6 Answers6

17

Generally, 'see' has the connotation of having gone to the movie theater and watched the movie there whereas 'watch' tends to mean to watch it in a home environment on DVD or TV.

In the cases where 'watch' is used to mean doing so at a theater, it is often accompanied with a construction like "go and", e.g. "We're going to go and watch X." In the absence of other context, this implies the sentence, "We're going to go to the theater and watch X" as opposed to "We're going to go to Bill's house and watch X."

This is just my experience of course.

Also, the distinction doesn't seem to apply to past tense. I mostly hear 'seen' used in this context but sometimes hear "watch"

  • Have you seen X?
  • Did you watch X?

The first one is much more common in my experience.

Either way, the primary distinction between watching a movie in a home environment and watching it at a theater is probably constructions involving the use of the verb "go".

aaronasterling
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8

To "go see something" applies to more than just movies. One can go see a play, an art exhibition, or what's happening somewhere. It's the act of going out somewhere and looking at something. Saying "Let's go see a movie" means that that you will go to the movie theater and watch a movie. When you are actually sitting in the movie theater, you are watching the movie.

Eric
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5

I have two theories on the use of watch and see:

  1. To 'watch' is the deliberate act of seeing. Like the difference between: I saw the sun set (happened to see) and I watched the sun set (deliberately saw the action of the sun setting)

  2. I also think it has got to do with the object of the verb 'see' or to 'watch'. You 'watch' an action, something moving - while you 'see' a thing or a static object.

Like Did you see the stuff displayed in the museum? v/s. You should watch the way he batted.

Well, just from my experience of language and words :)

Kris
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Subbalakshmi Kumar
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'See' is used when one tells of the intention.

Eg. 1. I will go to the movies to see the much talked about film. 2. I will be going out to see a movie soon. 3. We went to see a movie together last weekend.

On the other hand, 'watched' is used when actually the film is rolling or rolled and it's being appreciated or was appreciated respectively.

Eg. 1. Please I am watching a movie at the hall. 2. We watched a movie last night.

maxwell soul
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Consider saying "I watched a movie" or "I watched a photograph." Or rather consider saying "I saw a movie" or I saw a photograph (picture.)" Obviously, watched makes more sense in the case of a movie and saw in the case of a photograph.

john Seeger
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Technically, one watches a film (movie). One can also see a film - this is acceptable in colloquial speech, but stems from a misuse I would posit. It also has the connotation that you're going somewhere to watch it (e.g. the cinema).

Other European languages (including French and Spanish) use the verb to see in this situation, I believe (even though they have verbs for "to watch")... so it's probably quite a common mistake.

Noldorin
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  • Are you saying it is definitely not correct to use see with regards to a film in English or in French/Spanish – Dusty Dec 03 '10 at 21:33
  • In French/Spanish. In English it's alright, but only really in colloquial speech. – Noldorin Dec 03 '10 at 21:52
  • I'm not sure it's incorrect in formal English, either. All the dictionaries I've checked include "watch" as one of the definitions of "see", and they don't mark it as informal or colloquial. – Marthaª Dec 03 '10 at 23:14
  • Do you have any citation for the claim that it isn't correct to use "to see"? I've never heard of such a rule. – Henry Dec 04 '10 at 06:54
  • @Martha: It's more of an observation. Historically, evidence shows that watch was the correct verb to use. Through misuse they have perhaps both become appropriate. If you take the definitions of the two verbs very strictly, then watch is clearly the more appropriate. – Noldorin Dec 04 '10 at 15:40
  • @Henry: Not really, except everyday experience. :) That, and it seems to be an anomaly in terms of the original definitions of the words, and with other languages. – Noldorin Dec 04 '10 at 15:41
  • I'm not sure what the historical use was (I'd like to see this evidence you mention), but both words are widely used now (although with differences in nuance), so "see" shouldn't be characterized as incorrect or a misuse. – Henry Dec 04 '10 at 20:27
  • Nothing wrong with see, particularly in the past tenses. Have you seen any good movies lately? Yes, I just saw X and it was great!. While you are in the theater (or in front of the TV) and the movie is playing, you are watching it, but the act of watching a movie from start to finish is seeing the movie just like seeing an art exhibit or a baseball game. – Old Pro May 10 '12 at 17:05
  • You certainly can't sit seeing a movie. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 04 '12 at 20:13
  • @Noldorin: I am not sure what you mean when you say that French/Spanish use the "to see" verb. What specific French/Spanish are you talking about? In Spain we only use "ver" (which translates as "to see") for movies. – CesarGon Dec 04 '12 at 20:31
  • @CesarGon: Sorry, my post is wrong there... not sure why I wrote it. :/ – Noldorin Dec 04 '12 at 20:46
  • Perhaps there are some movies you can't stand seeing either. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 04 '12 at 22:38
  • @Noldorin: Fair enough ;-) – CesarGon Dec 05 '12 at 07:24
  • @CesarGon: Yep, this is something I definitely knew, so no idea what I was smoking when I wrote that. :P Thanks. – Noldorin Dec 05 '12 at 17:26