Saturday 11 February 2012

What Are You Looking At


SCENARIO
Imagine you meet a relative, a friend or a colleague . When you meet, you appear to be engrossed looking at something. It could be a TV, a computer screen or anything else for that matter. The other person is curious and wants to know what you are watching , so he/ she might say to you: "what are you looking at?"


In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:
¿Qué miras?*

Alternatively, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:
¿Que mira (usted)?*


*NB In Spanish, it is quite common to use this form of the question ("what do you look at?"), even though what is really meant (in English) is: "what are you looking at?".


OUR TIP
The first thing to note is that you DO NOT need to be concerned about the level of formality in the other person's question. Your main concern should be about communicating what you are watching/ looking at. Perhaps you want to say that:
  • You are watching TV
  • You are watching something on TV.
  • You are watching something happening.
  • You are watching someone do something.
  • You are having a look at/ checking something.

Here are some examples of how you would say what you watching/ looking at:
  • Miro la tele  (I am watching TV).
  • Estoy mirando la tele (I am watching TV).
  • Miro una telenovela  (I am watching a soap).
  • Estoy mirando una telenovela (I am watching a soap).
  • Miro la puesta del Sol  (I am watching the sunset).
  • Estoy mirando la puesta del Sol (I am watching the sunset).
  • Miro lo que hace Pedro (I am watching what Pedro is doing).
  • Estoy mirando lo que hace Pedro (I am looking at what Pedro is doing).
  • Miro si le hace falta aceite al coche (I am checking to see if the car needs oil).
  • Estoy mirando  si le hace falta aceite al coche (I am having a look to see if the car needs oil) .


    Now you should practice answering the question:
    ¿Qué miras?





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