i watched television vs i watched the television

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'I watched television' is a general statement indicating that you watched TV in general. 'I watched the television' refers to a specific television set that you watched. The choice between the two depends on whether you are referring to watching TV in general or a specific TV set.

Last updated: March 08, 2024 • 4131 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"i watched television"

This phrase is used to indicate that you watched TV in general without specifying a particular television set.

Examples:

I watched television all day yesterday.
She enjoys watching television in the evening.
Do you watch television often?

Show examples from the web [+]

And then I went home and I, I watched television until television went off. And then I played my records until I just didn't want to hear them. Anymore and finally I ...
If you only want to talk about the activity of watching television, you should say: "I watched television yesterday." Thanks for the A2A, ...
I watch television every evening. (Present Simple) I watched television yesterday evening. (Past Simple). watched is the Past Simple: ...
Jan 8, 2015 ... Rose Eveleth ‏@roseveleth Jan 8. If I watched television this would be really useful: http://www.spylight.com/. 0 replies 0 retweets 2 favorites.

Alternatives:

I watched TV
I watched some television shows
I watched a program on television
I watched a show on TV
I watched a movie on TV

This phrase is correct but less commonly used in English.

"i watched the television"

This phrase is used when you want to specify that you watched a particular television set.

Examples:

I watched the television in the living room.
He fixed the television that I watched last night.
The television in the hotel room was huge.
The television in the store was showing the news.
The television in my bedroom is broken.

Show examples from the web [+]

Aug 13, 2014 ... I watched the television show “Castle”. In the television show Richard Castle is a writer who gets to ride along with Detective Kate Becket and ...
i saw the ceiling spin. and i saw the room shift. and i watched the television flicker . and i let my mind drift. i would give anything in the world up for you, but i will ...
Power, rightly applied, makes truth. As I watched the television screen, the fragment of Orwell that had been dancing just beyond the grasp of my consciousness ...
Nov 7, 2014 ... I thought of Twain's critique of American elections, which includes tales of incompetence, corruption and lies, as I watched the television news ...

Alternatives:

I watched that TV
I watched the TV in the living room
I watched the program on the TV
I watched the show on the TV
I watched the movie on the TV

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i watched television vs i watched the television