see

Meanings

1. To notice with the eyes.
2. To understand.
3. To meet or visit someone.

Example sentences

• "I can see the sea from my window."

  Level A1, Meaning 1

• "Oh, I see what you mean."

  Level A2, Meaning 2

• "We saw a good film last night."

  Level A1, Meaning 1

• "I am going to see the dentist tomorrow."

  Level A2, Meaning 3

Synonyms and antonyms

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• look : Look means to turn your eyes toward something on purpose. See means to notice with your eyes without any effort.
• watch : Watch means to look at something that moves or changes for some time, such as a match or a film.

Word family and forms

Forms: sees, saw, seen, seeing

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "see".

• see a doctor
• see you later
• see a film
• see the point
• I see
• see what happens

Idioms and phrases

see eye to eye

To agree with someone completely.

"My brother and I do not always see eye to eye."

seeing is believing

You trust something only when you have seen it yourself.

"I did not believe the story, but seeing is believing."

Origin

See comes from Old English seon, which meant to see, to look at and to understand. The double meaning of seeing with the eyes and seeing with the mind is very old.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Dictionary.com.

How to remember it

See, saw, seen: the "ee" of see becomes "aw" in saw. Think "I saw a saw".

Test yourself

Learn next at A1

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