Senses: Sight, Part 1

Be sure to put on your glasses (or get your eyes checked) before you read this post. (Image)

As I mentioned last Friday, for the next series of posts I'd like to talk about the 5 senses. To start off, we'll look at the eyes this week. The name of the sense that your eyes perceive is usually called sight or vision. We'll look at more related words on Wednesday for Word Wednesday but for today I wanted to re-post one of the first Common Errors I put up, from back in 2010. It explains when to use the words "look," "see," and "watch." I did make a few small changes based on a recommendation by a coworker earlier today. Have a look:

Common Error: Confusing "see," "look (at)," and "watch"
DON’T say this:	See! There's a giant snake over there! Let's go to the mall and look a movie. I like to see the show "Smallville"
WHY?	This is a difficult problem because the differences between these words are subtle: -“See” means to perceive something by using your eyes (vision). You normally don’t plan to see, you just do it naturally or spontaneously: "It's very dark in this room--I can't see a thing!" One exception is if you're making plans to do something that involves your eyes (like going to a movie or visiting a family member): "I'm going to go see/visit my grandma this weekend, and we may even go see/watch a movie." -When you look at something, you generally move your eyes to see it. This is an action that you plan to do, and you look at something for a reason. Both “look” and “see” could be used as interjections, but “look” is much more common: "Look at this backpack; do you think it would hold all my books and my laptop?" -The word “watch” is similar to “look (at),” but it generally indicates a longer period of time. If you watch, you are carefully or continuously observing something. This is the most common verb to use with TV or movies. Things that you watch are generally moving or involve movement: "I spent the whole afternoon babysitting, watching my neighbor's kids. But it was easy since we just watched a movie on TV."
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-“Look! There's a giant snake over there!” -“Let's go to the mall and see/watch a movie.” -"I like to watch the TV show 'Smallville.'" -“I was watching the soccer game, but when the lights went out in the stadium, it was too dark to see anything.” -“I want to exchange my Dollars for Euros, so I’ve been watching the currency exchange rate closely.

"Then again, John MAY just be really dull." (Image)

So, I hope that is clear. What are your favorite activities that you like to do using each of these verbs? Please feel free to leave a comment below if you'd like. 

Thanks for reading and looking at my website. Be sure to watch the Internet on Wednesday for another post with more vocabulary involving sight. Have a nice week, and I'll see you again on Wednesday!

Common Error: "How is...?"

The Mona Lisa, one of the most famous portraits in the world. I can ask "What is it like?" and "What does it look like?" but NOT "How is it?" Why not? Continue reading to find the answer!

Hello, and welcome back to Mistake Monday! If you're in Costa Rica and had a break last week, I hope it was relaxing.

Today's error is basic but still commonly causes confusion even for intermediate or advanced speakers. We'll look at how to use phrases like "How is...?" and "How are...?"-- and how not to use them, too! We'll also talk about "What is (s)he like?" and "What does (s)he look like?"

First of all, if I ask...

"How are you?"

...how do you respond? That's easy, right? You probably learned on your first day of English class that the response to this is something like "I'm fine, thanks" or "I'm O.K." In other words, "How are you?" asks for your temporary condition or feelings. So, if I ask...

"How is she?" or "How is he?"

...how should you respond? Obviously, it's the same question, but with a different subject. You can say something like "She is fine" or "He is sick." But I think this is confusing, especially for Spanish speakers, because there are two Spanish phrases that are similar: 

"¿Cómo es?" is used for physical descriptions or talking about personality.

"¿Cómo está?" is commonly used to describe temporary conditions or feelings.

The phrase "How is he?" could be literally translated into either of these phrases, but it really means "¿Cómo está?" If you want to say "¿Cómo es?" then what should you say? That's right, you should say:

"What is she like?" or "What is he like?"

If you only want a physical description, and not personality, you can also ask:

"What does she look like?" or "What does he look like?"

If you remember when to use these phrases, then you should be able to avoid this confusion.

As a side note, I noticed another similar phrase that causes problems in my classes. Sometimes I start my class by asking:

"How is everyone?" or "How is everybody?"

This is basically the same question, but instead of talking about one person, I'm talking about a group of people. "Everyone" in this context means "all of my students." It just looks strange because "everybody" refers to a group, but grammatically, it's singular. Just think of the word "every" as considering each individual person in a group.

So, to practice, see if you can complete this dialogue between a teacher and her students:

Ms. Bloom: Good afternoon, class! 

Students: Good afternoon.

Ms. Bloom: (1)________________ ?

Students: Fine, thanks!

Ms. Bloom: Good to hear. Now, who's absent? Where's Jane?

Ron: She's still in the hospital, remember?

Ms. Bloom: Oh, that's right! I forgot about her broken leg. Did you talk to her? (2)________________ ?

Ron: She's doing better. She should be out soon, at least according to Dr. Jackson.

Ms. Bloom: Dr. Jackson? I know a Dr. Jackson who works at the hospital. Do you mean Sheila Jackson?

Ron: Ummm, I'm not sure. I don't know her first name.

Ms. Bloom: (3)________________ ?

Ron: I'm not very sure. She seemed nice, but she was also very professional. I didn't really talk to her much.

Ms. Bloom: OK, but can you describe her? (4)________________ ?

Ron: Oh! Well, she's fairly short, she has dark skin, and she has long, wavy hair. She's very pretty... she has a wonderful smile with perfect teeth and soft, smooth lips, and she's got big eyes that are the color of the ocean at night. She also has an incredible body-- I think she must work out!

Ms. Bloom: Well, that doesn't sound like the Dr. Jackson I know, but it does sound like you want to get to know this other Dr. Jackson! Haha!

So, what were your answers? Here are some suggestions:

(1) - How is everyone? (You can also say something like "How is everybody?" "How are you all doing?" or "How are all of you?")

(2) - How is she? (Informally, you may also hear people say "How is she doing?")

(3) - What is she like?

(4) - What does she look like? ("What is she like?" isn't a good option here, because Ms. Bloom and Ron are giving a physical description of Dr. Jackson, but not talking about her personality.)

That's all for today. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below or send an email. Thanks for reading, and have a good day!

Common Error: Confusing "See," "Look," and "Watch"

Just in time to spread Christmas cheer, I bring you the next in our series of Common Errors! Today we'll be looking at ways to correctly and clearly use the words "see," "look (at)," and "watch."

Common Error: Confusing "see," "look (at)," and "watch"
DON’T say this:	See! There's a giant snake over there! Let's go to the mall and look a movie. I like to see the show "Smallville"
WHY?	This is a difficult problem because the differences between these words are subtle: -“See” means to perceive something by using your eyes (vision). You don’t plan to see, you just do it naturally or spontaneously. -When you look at something, you generally move your eyes to see it. This is an action that you plan to do, and you look at something for a reason. Both “look” and “see” could be used as interjections, but “look” is much more common. -The word “watch” is similar to “look (at),” but it generally indicates a longer period of time. If you watch, you are carefully or continuously observing something. Things that you watch are generally moving.
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-“I was watching the soccer game, but when the lights went out in the stadium, it was too dark to see anything.” -“Look, I’m sorry, but I just need to tell you this directly. Your presentation sucked.” -“You see, I disagree. His presentation wasn’t that bad.” “Look! It’s a Blue Grey Tanager! Those birds are beautiful!” “Do you want to go to the mall with me to see/watch a movie?” “I want to exchange my Dollars for Euros, so I’ve been watching the currency exchange rate closely.

That's it for today. If you have comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear from you!

Good luck, and Merry Christmas!