see/look/watch
siː / lʊk / wɒtʃ
See arrives, look turns, watch follows
The picture An image landing in a still eye all by itself is see; head and pupils swivelling to settle on one spot is look; eyes travelling with something that keeps moving is watch. SEE is what arrives in the eye, LOOK is the eye turning, WATCH is the eye travelling along.
Where the picture shows up in see/look/watch
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it arrives by itself
I saw your car in the parking lot.
aɪ sɔː jɔː kɑːr ɪn ðə ˈpɑːkɪŋ lɒt
I saw your car in the parking lot.
Walking through a car park when a familiar car catches in your eye without you hunting for it
Nothing was searched for — it simply arrived, so it is see.
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the eye turns to a spot
Look at this X-ray for a second.
lʊk ət ðɪs ˈeks reɪ fər ə ˈsekənd
Look at this X-ray for a second.
A doctor swivelling her head toward one film clipped to the light box
Look takes at, which pins down the single spot the eye goes to.
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the eye follows movement
I'll watch the baby, you go ahead.
aɪl wɒtʃ ðə ˈbeɪbi, juː ɡəʊ əˈhed
I'll watch the baby, you go ahead.
Pupils sliding left and right to stay with a baby crawling across the floor
Minding a child, or anything that keeps moving — a match, a video — takes watch.
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asking whether it reaches you
Can you see the screen from there?
kən juː siː ðə skriːn frəm ðeə
Can you see the screen from there?
Someone in the back row with the head in front blocking half the screen out of their eyes
Whether something is visible or not is always see.
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turned, but nothing arrived
I looked everywhere but I didn't see it.
aɪ lʊkt ˈevriweə bət aɪ ˈdɪdnt siː ɪt
I looked everywhere but I didn't see it.
Drawers and bags opened one by one, eyes going in, and the thing never landing in them
looked is the effort of turning; see is the result of arriving.
All of it in one picture
A familiar car that simply landed in your eye across the car park is saw; asking someone to swivel toward an X-ray is look at. Keeping your eyes glued to a crawling baby is watch, and asking whether the screen reaches someone's eyes at the back is see again. The last sentence shows both at once — the eyes turned everywhere (looked) but nothing landed in them (didn't see).