When do you use 'seen' instead of 'saw' in a sentence?

Answer 1

The word "seen" is the past participle of "see". It is often used with a form of "have," whether it be "have," "has," or "had."

Example: It has been seen before.

Example: I have seen it near the store on several occasions.

Example: She had seen the bird fly by the window.

Incorrect: She seen the cookie lying on the counter.

Correct: She saw the cookie lying on the counter.

Correct: She had seen the cookie lying on the counter.

Incorrect: I have saw Mount Rushmore, but only once in my life.

Correct: I have seen Mount Rushmore, but only once in my life.

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'seen' is also used in other ways:

Examples:

Several birds could be seen in the nearby trees.

The man was last seen walking near the bridge.

It has to be seen to be believed.

If you do that it will be seen that you are at least trying to put matters right.

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Using "seen" vs. "saw" changes the meaning of the sentence.

Compare: "He saw the snow falling lightly to the ground.", vs. "He had seen the snow falling lightly to the ground."

SEE, SEEN, SAW: a conversation and explanation

-Would you like to see that new movie?

-I have seen it already!

-When did you see it?

-I saw it last week, on Saturday.

The first sentence is talking about the future.

The reply "I have seen it already" means that the person saw the movie in the past AND that this fact is relevant to 'now', the present, the present situation.

The final reply '"I saw it last week" is a simple statement of fact about something that was done, accomplished, finished, or completed in the past. Therefore 'saw' is called the past simple (or simple past) of the verb 'see'.