[Idiom] Any differences?

[dilodi83]

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?

 

[bhaisahab]

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?

As far as I can see they mean entirely different things. Do you have any context for either of them?

 

[Raymott]

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".

 

[dilodi83]

Sorry, I made a mistake.

For example in sentences like these:
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.

Don't they mean exactly the same?? I hope you can help with this.

 

[dilodi83]

Any help?

 

[bhaisahab]

I wouldn't use "catch on to".

 

[dilodi83]

I wouldn't use "catch on to".

why? is it not used so much? Is "see through" more common in everyday's English?

 

[bhaisahab]

Why? Is it not used so much? Is "see through" more common in everyday English?

I would use "see through".

 

[dilodi83]

Just because you like it more? or is there a specific reason about it??

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

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.

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:

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 .

"Catch on to" is used differently:

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.

 

[dilodi83]

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:

Thanks so much chicken Sandwich. Your answer is clear and complete. I think, and a teacher should know it well, that the simple answer is not enough clear for a person who is not a native speaker, and besides the answer, an explanation of that answer is as necessary as required to understand the language or the rule corretly.

 

[bhaisahab]

I should have told you to look here: Catch on - English Phrasal Verb - UsingEnglish.com and here: See through - English Phrasal Verb - UsingEnglish.com

 

[emsr2d2]

I might use "to catch someone out".