Are there any differences between
to catch on to someone and to see someone through?
Are they used in specific contexts or do they mean the same?
I think you're asking about "to see through someone", not "to see someone through".Are there any differences between
to catch on to someone and to see someone through?
Are they used in specific contexts or do they mean the same?
I wouldn't use "catch on to".
Why? Is it not used so much? Is "see through" more common in everyday English?
1) If you keep on lying to everyone, they'll eventually see through you/catch on to you.
2) It took me a while, but I finally caught on to him/saw through him.
3) In the end, I saw through him/caught on to him and ended our relationship.
4) He's so charming and sly that few people see through him/catch on to him and realize that he's just a jerk.
1 see through somebody/something to realize that someone is trying to deceive you :
I saw through his excuses.
I could never lie to her because I know she’d see through me straight away.
I can’t bluff – she’d see right through me .
2 to begin to understand or realize something catch on to
It was a long time before the police caught on to what he was really doing.
NOT A TEACHER
In all of your sentences, there is some kind of deceptive behaviour going on, which is why "see through" would be my choice as well.
Take a look at the following example sentences, taken from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English:
"Catch on to" is used differently: