Do you use "ver" or "mirar" when saying "I like to watch TV?"
Do you use the verb ver or mirar when saying I like to watch TV
7 Answers
Hi and welcome to the forum.
We use "ver" to refer to watching television.
This is from the dictionary:
ver
- to see (en general) ; to watch (televisión, partido de fútbol)
The question has been asked before.
Take a look in this thread: http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/102382/ver-o-mirar
What is interesting to me, and disappointing is, I've been taught in two spanish courses I've taken that mirar is the correct verb to use when watching television. And, like the person in the other thread said, I've been corrected, not just once but many times, because that is what I was taught.
I've had the exact same experience with the verbs sacar and tomar. Two courses and four textbooks teach to take a photo is sacar una foto, yet just last week my Colombian pastor told me to use tomar when talking about taking a photo.
I've also discovered that, just because someone says one way is 'right' doesn't make it 'right'. However, when a profesora de español from Columbia tells me I'm wrong, I try to listen 
I wonder what else I've been taught in error?
You would use "mirar" to "look at" the television in the same way you would look at a picture or a wall.
I suppose just to make sure no one has taken it.
you can use both, actually there is no real difference to watch tv between mirar y ver.
for example:
estoy viendo la televisión
o
estoy mirando la televisión
so you can use both and you'll be correct. you can chose one over the other and they're gonna understand you. although I council you to use ver, because is the most common.
Our translator says:
Estamos viendo la tele - we are watching tv
Doesn't make sense to me either because Ver = to see.
You would say Me gusta ver televisión.
