Saw vs. looked at vs. watched

[Jon]

I've been trying to figure out a way to explain the difference between saw, looked at, and watched. My instinct leads me to think that the difference lies in the level of concentration involved, but I have a feeling there is more to it than that.

any ideas how I might be able to explain the difference?

[Mister Micawber]

.
You're on the right track, I think. I explain it basically as:

see = come into view without particular intention
look at = intentionally view
watch = intentionally view an activity in motion

There is plenty of overlap and plenty of idiomatic variations, but I think this covers most cases.
.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Alan]

Hi Jon,

Perhaps it might help if I put these verbs into a sentence to show how they work:

As I was driving along, I saw a dark shape lying in the middle of the road. I stopped the car to look at it more closely and discovered it was a bird which suddenly jumped up and I watched it fly away.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Phrasal Verbs/hold