contrast.mirar-ver
Mirar vs ver: look vs see
Mirar = direct your eyes, watch attentively (mirá esto); ver = perceive, see, and also watch content (ver una película, ver la tele).
contrastA2✓ Reviewedv0.1.0
Explanation
Mirar is the deliberate act of directing your eyes — 'to look (at)' or 'to watch attentively': mirá esto, mira por la ventana, no me mires así. Ver is perception — 'to see', what reaches your eyes whether you try or not: no veo nada sin lentes, ¿viste eso?
For screen content the line softens. Movies, series, and matches normally go with ver: anoche vimos el partido, ver una película, ver la tele. But in much of Latin America mirar works there too (mirar tele), so both are heard.
Both verbs live in fixed expressions: a ver ('let's see'), nos vemos ('see you'), ya veremos ('we'll see'), verse bien ('to look good'), and the very common mirá vos / mirá ('well, look at that' / 'check this out'), an attention-getter especially in voseo regions.
Examples
Look carefully before crossing; you can't see anything in this fog.
Region: global
Did you watch the latest episode?
Region: global
Look at the sky — you can see it's going to rain.