See! Does 've' or 'vea' work in the same way?
I was talking to a Venezuelan friend of our last night and we were discussing some point of grammar.
I looked it up on the net and pointed to the bit that was important and I wanted to say 'see' it says here....
Could I have just said - 've' (tú) or 'vea' (ud) and is it used like we use it?
Ie you don't actually have to be looking at something to say 'see!' - maybe someone makes a comment that supports your line of thinking and you want to say - "see, that's what I mean" or is that not normal speech in Spanish?
If not is there an equivalent common saying?
7 Answers
Marianne is right. If you speak in a figurative sense (see? this is what I mean), you need to use 'ver'. However, if you want to tell someone to look somewhere you need to use 'mirar'.
In your example (see? it says here..) I'd say '¿Ves? Aquí dice que.. ' or '¿Lo ves?..'
I looked it up on the net and pointed to the bit that was important and I wanted to say 'see' it says here....
Could I have just said - 've' (tú) or 'vea' (ud) and is it used like we use it?
Although not everyone follows this distinction (which is similar in English between 'see' and 'look'), "ver" is the ability to perceive images with you eyes. Commanding someone to "ver" would be like saying "Perceive images with your eyes". You sound like God giving a blind person hi sight back. "Mirar", on the other hand, means to focus you attention through your sight, which is something you can command others to do.
See? It is red, as I said = (Lo) ves? Es rojo, como te dije.
Look! It is read, as I said. = ¡Mira! Es rojo, como te dije.
I think that the "see" you were referring to is actually intonated (and therefore written) as an interrogative sentence, where "See?" is the same as "Can you see?" I don't think it is correct in English to command people to "see!", unless you are God. Correct me if I'm wrong, but other English natives I've checked with agree with me.
How about making it a question:
¿Lo ves? Dice aqui que.....
that's just a guess, MC. I have nowt to back it up.
Going to watch and see what our more experienced friends have to say.
Good question. 
I've heard "Mira," used in this way, like "look..." or "look here...".
Mira vale, no te compliques la vida. ¡Es muy fácil!, ¿ves?
See! I told you so, kind of see but ¿Ves? for can you see?
I was going to let this slide but since Lazarus drew the parallel with English, your use of an exclamation mark makes it look like a command and I don't think that works any better in English than in Spanish. I would punctuate it "See? I told you so!" (or just a period after "so"). I grant that the "see" is said with considerable emphasis but I think the tone is more one of exasperation/triumph rather than imperative.
For "See?" as in "I told you so" I have heard "¿Tú ves?
For "See?" as in "Take a look at this/that" I have heard "Mira" and "Fíjate."
