Improve Your English Fluency: 10 Words for Seeing

When you're trying to improve your English vocabulary, there are basically two ways you

can go.

One is to go wide and learn a little bit of vocabulary about a lot of different subjects.

But at some stage, you want to go beyond that and you want to go deep.

You want to take one area and learn a lot of vocabulary about that particular area.

And that's what we're going to do in this lesson.

We're going deep into which area?

We're going to talk about words that have to describe the way you use your eyes.

Okay?

So, let's look at what these words are, and then you will be able to see, perhaps you

have these words in your own language, you probably do.

That's what actually gives us a lot of fluency, when we have lots of vocabulary to describe

seemingly similar ideas.

Okay?

And in your vocabulary and in your language, I'm sure you have that depth.

So let's give you some of that depth in English.

Let's get started.

So, the first word that has to do with using your eyes is "to see" something.

Now, if my eyes are closed, I can't see; when my eyes are open, I can see.

So "to see" just means to use your eyes.

Okay?

So, for example, if you're in a...

I saw John today in the office.

Okay?

Or I saw a mouse in the hotel room.

Okay?

I hope that doesn't happen to you.

So "to see" just means to use your eyes.

Okay?

It's the most basic word that we can use for describing the action of using our vision.

Alright?

"To see".

The next word is "to look".

So "to look", now we are paying attention to what we see.

Okay?

I looked at my watch to see what the time was.

Okay?

I looked at my watch.

Or you might look at an attractive man or an attractive woman, and sometimes your partner

might say, "Why are you looking at her?

Why are you looking at him?"

Okay?

Or something like that.

So "to look" means to see, but to see with attention, to pay attention to what you're

seeing.

Alright?

That's "to look".

The next word is "to watch".

Now, this word you probably do know, like, what can we watch?

You watch something for some time.

Usually this takes time.

So, for example, we watch a show, we watch a movie, we watch a game, a football game,

a soccer game, whatever.

Okay?

So "to watch something" means to look at something, but for some time.

You see that when I'm describing these words, very often I'm using other words in that same

vocabulary field, but in different ways.

Okay?

Now, here's another one.

This one you may or may not have heard.

It's called "glare".

To glare at somebody is to look at somebody angrily.

Okay?

So, that's basically what it is.

When you're communicating something with your eyes and you're angry at somebody, then you

glare at them.

It's not a pretty picture.

Okay?

Alright.

So, "to look at somebody angrily" is to glare.

The next word, "to gaze".

This is more peaceful, much more peaceful.

So, "to gaze", it's a beautiful day and I'm gazing outside my window, I'm thinking about

different things, pleasant things, usually.

So when you're gazing, you're looking at something that's maybe pretty or attractive and it's

making you think, so you're looking thoughtfully.

Okay?

You're gazing outside the window.

That's what it means to gaze at something.

Okay.

Number six, "peek".

Okay?

So, "to peek" means to look at something secretly.

For example, somebody might try to peek at the answers to a test, or a child may try

to open a box, a gift, and peek at what's inside.

Okay?

Can't wait for Christmas, can't wait for his birthday, he's peeking at what's inside.

So, "to peek" means to look at something secretly, when you're not supposed to be looking at

it.

Alright.

The next one, "squint".

So, "to squint" is something like this, let's say, you know, let's say first it could be...

It happens at different times.

For example, if you're in the sun, okay, and you didn't...

You forgot to bring your sunglasses and so you might squint, right, with both your eyes,

make your eyes really small because you can't stand the bright light.

Or it could be because somebody needs glasses and they can't see what's on the board so

they're squinting, you know, in order to be able to focus their vision and be able to

see what's on the board.

So that's "squinting", "to squint", okay?

The next word, "wink".

So, this is to close one eye, something like that.

I can't do it very well, okay?

But "to wink" means to close one eye.

And basically, you're kind of sending a message to someone, right?

Could be anything, in different cultures it can mean different things, and it can mean

that you're flirting with someone, it could mean that you're joking with someone, and

so you just sort of blink with one eye, okay?

That's called "winking", "to wink".

The other one is "blink".

"Blink" is basically just closing both eyes.

We blink naturally, right, thousands of times a day, blink, that's to close both eyes, okay?

And the last one is "to glance".

So "to glance" means to look quickly at something.

For example, if you're just about to enter a meeting but you want to check if you've

gotten any messages on your cell phone from your client, you might glance at your phone

very quickly, okay?

Or you might, if you're... in the morning, if you're in a rush, you might glance at the

headlines in the newspaper or online to see what happened last night, okay?

To look at something very quickly.

So, let's just first make sure that you can pronounce all these words, and then we'll

review a little bit of the meaning.

So repeat after me.

"See".

So you know what we'll do?

We'll actually say them, and then I'll also say it in the past tense for you, okay?

"See" - "saw", "look" - "looked", has a "t" sound at the end, "watch" - "watched", also

a "t" sound, "watched", "glare" - "glared", has a "d" sound at the end, "gaze" - "gazed",

also with a "d" sound, "peak" - "peaked", it also has a "t" sound, "peaked".

Even though a lot of our regular verbs end with "ed", we don't always say them like a

"d", right?

We can say a "t" sound, a "d" sound, or a stronger "id" sound, okay?

That's another lesson, but pay attention to how you pronounce these for now.

Then "squint" - "squinted", okay, good, "wink" - "winked", "t" sound, "blink" - "blinked",

good, you've got it, and "glance" - "glanced", also a "t" sound, okay?

So are you ready to see what you remember?

If you want to pause the video and have a look at the definitions again, you can, because

in a second I'm going to erase them and then we'll see what you can remember.

So are you ready?

Let's get started.

So let's suppose that you forgot your sunglasses and you're looking into the light and it's

really hurting your eyes a little bit, and which word describes that situation?

Which verb?

It is "squint", okay?

Again, you can pause the video if you need a little more time, but otherwise we're going

to move ahead.

All right, so which word means to look at somebody angrily?

Which verb tells us that?

It's the verb "glare", okay?

All right, good, good for you.

Which word means to close one eye?

Which one is that?

It is "wink", okay?

Very, very nice.

Okay, and if you're going to - which verb describes what we do when we - I want to use

the word - when there's a game on TV or there's a good movie?

What do we do?

What's the verb?

We "something" a movie, we "something" a game.

What is that?

"To watch", yeah, you know that one, right, because you do that a lot, okay?

If somebody's looking at something secretly that they're not supposed to look at, which

verb is that?

That's the verb, yeah, I heard you, "peek", very good, okay.

Let's see what's left here, I'm trying to look - okay, let's say to look at something

very quickly, okay?

Like messages or a headline or something, just the main topics of something, to look

at something really quickly is to, yeah, "glance", right, very nice.

And which word means to just use your eyes, you know, as soon as your eyes are open, you

can "see", right, very good, okay.

And if you're sort of thinking about things and looking out the window and thinking about

your life or thinking about how beautiful nature is or something else like that, you're

looking at something very thoughtfully, you are doing what?

You are "gazing", okay.

And if you see something attractive and you pay attention to it, then what is that verb?

To look, okay?

For example, we often say when we go into a store, okay, and somebody asks you, you

know, "Can I help you?" and you say, "No, thanks, I'm just looking around", okay?

So you're looking, you're paying attention to different things, alright.

And the word that's left is "blink", which means what?

To close, like, both eyes, right?

Close what we do each day with the eyelids, we close them, okay?

So these are ten words that you now have to describe actions that you can do with your

eyes.

So if you are reading fiction, you will see a lot of this kind of in-depth vocabulary.

If you use this kind of vocabulary when you're writing essays, when you're appearing for

any kind of exams and things like that, then of course, it's going to show that you are

much more fluent in English, alright?

So a combination of these strategies of going wide with your vocabulary and then sometimes

going deep into a certain area will help you to speak more fluently, alright?

So to practice these, go to our website, www.engvid.com, there you can do a quiz on this particular

subject and also check out lots and lots of other videos, okay?

And don't forget to subscribe and ring the bell so you will be notified whenever I have

a new lesson.

Thanks for watching.

Bye for now.