Verlo not Velo

[BobRitter]

¿Si "touch it" = tócalo, "Use it" = úsalo y "try it" = pruébalo, por qué
"see it" = verlo no velo?

Toca, Usa, Prueba son 2rd persona, así tócaLO, ÚsaLO y PruébaLO.
La secunda persona de VER es VE así "see it" debería se VELO no "VERLO".

Como siempre, gracias.

[poli]

In Spanish, frequently mirar is more frequently used than ver in the case you present. So, míralo is what you will often hear instead of véalo.

[aleCcowaN]

Yes, velo, not verlo.

ver= ser
mirar =look

As poli said, míralo is used instead of velo (except in México), yet, when it is meant as "take a glance at it" or "consider (the subject)", velo is preferred.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by BobRitter

¿Si "touch it" = tócalo, "use it" = úsalo y "try it" = pruébalo, ¿por qué "see it" = verlo y no velo?

Toca, usa y prueba son imperativos de 2ª persona y es por eso que se los escribe tócaLO, úsaLO y pruébaLO.
La segunda persona de VER es VE, así que "see it" debería ser veLO, no "VERLO".

Wherever you found «verlo» posted, it's written using the infinitive instead of the second person command form. So, you are correct to change it to «velo». However, if «verlo» was not a mistake, it could simply be a form of general instruction. There are several occasions where verbs written in the infinitive (like «NO FUMAR») are not addressing anyone in particular. In English, we use the gerund "No Smoking" (NOT to be confused with the Spanish gerundio). This same general instruction usage can be seen when reading recipes. There is another way to explain this usage, but I'll save that explanation for later, in case «verlo» turns out to be just a mistake.

[aleCcowaN]

Rusty, that debería is OK. You're quite right about "debe ser veLO" but I reckon Bob added a touch of hesitancy to it by using the condicional de conjetura, and although Bob's proficiency using Spanish doesn't make us expect he masters Spanish verbs yet, he has already surprised us with some insights hinting he's making Spanish his own.

[Rusty]

Agreed.

[BobRitter]

Gracias, mis amigos. Tienes razón sobre mi nivel de español. He estado estudiando el español más o menos toda mi vida, sin mucho éxito. Pero poco a poco estoy mejorando. Por lo menos ahora puedo hacer preguntas inteligentes, usualmente y me emociono mucho cuando pueda reconocer errores en las publicaciones de Internet. De nuevo, gracias.