# go to a movie



## brian&me

Hi, everyone.

Please read this dialogue written by me.

_Tom: Do you have any plans tonight?
Jack: NO, I don’t. Do you have any ideas?
Tom: What about going to a movie?_

I wonder if ‘going to a movie’ is OK.

Thanks.


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## Copyright

Yes, it's fine and dandy.


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## brian&me

Thanks, Copyright.
What about "go to a film"? Is that also OK?


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## Copyright

As an AE speaker, I go to a movie, see a movie, or see a film.


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## longxianchen

Thanks. What about "go to the movie"?
For example:
A:I heard a movie, which is said to be very interesting.
B:Really? Let's go to the *movie*(only one single movie, not *movies*) together.


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## Copyright

Yes, you can say,_ "Let's go to the movie together."_

In conversation with a friend, we would likely be much more succinct:

_I heard there's a great movie on now.
Really? Let's go. _


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## longxianchen

But here is an exercise from an exercise book:
_1.The TV show is boring. Let's go to ___._
The given answer is* the movies*. But I feel *the movie* is better, because normally we only watch one movie at one time, rather than *many movies*.


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## Franco-filly

"Movies" is often* used for "the cinema" [forum definition *movie *2: Usually,  *the movies.* [plural] a motion-picture theater:We went to the movies last night.]

"Let's go to the movies" means "Let's go to the cinema/picture house"  They probably don't know what films are being screened so "and see what's on there /and see what's showing" is implied.
*or used to be!


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## Copyright

Franco-filly said:


> "Movies" is often* used for "the cinema" [forum definition *movie *2: Usually,  *the movies.* [plural] a motion-picture theater:We went to the movies last night.]
> 
> "Let's go to the movies" means "Let's go to the cinema/picture house"  They probably don't know what films are being screened so "and see what's on there /and see what's showing" is implied.
> *or used to be!


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## longxianchen

Thank you two again.


Franco-filly said:


> They probably don't know what films are being screened so "and see what's on there /and see what's showing" is implied.


That is to say, people don't know whether it's *one film* or *several films* before they arrive at the cinema.


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## Copyright

longxianchen said:


> That is to say, people don't know whether it's *one film* or *several films* before they arrive at the cinema.


That’s not the main point, which is this, in red, even if there's only one movie playing:


Franco-filly said:


> "Movies" is often* used for "the cinema" [forum definition movie 2: Usually,  the movies. [plural] a motion-picture theater:We went to the movies last night.]
> 
> "Let's go to the movies" means "Let's go to the cinema/picture house"


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## zaffy

A: Any plans for tonight?
B: Not really
A: Let's go to the cinema then  vs. Let's go to the movies then  vs. Let's go to a movie then. 


As I can imagine, the first utterance will be given by a BE speaker, whereas the other two by an AE one, right?


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## Franco-filly

I guess so.  This BE speaker would say "go to the cinema" or "go to see a film."


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## zaffy

AmE: "My friend and I went saw a movie last night." 
BrE: "My friend and I went and saw a film last night."

So, those two are correct and sound natural, right?


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## Nickle Sydney

zaffy said:


> I went saw a movie last night.





We went to the cinema last night.


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## Myridon

No. "Let's go see a movie." doesn't become  "We went saw a movie."


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## Nickle Sydney

Initially I read it like "the saw movie" a bunch of times...


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## Myridon

Boris Tatarenko said:


> We went to the cinema last night.


Americans do not say "cinema."


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## Nickle Sydney

Myridon said:


> Americans do not say "cinema."



No wonder nobody goes with me to the cinema in Mass.


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## kentix

zaffy said:


> A: Any plans for tonight?
> B: Not really
> A: Let's go to the cinema then vs. Let's go to the movies then vs. Let's go to a movie then.
> 
> As I can imagine, the first utterance will be given by a BE speaker, whereas the other two by an AE one, right?


I'm not sure too many people say "Let's go to the movies" anymore. I think Myridon is closest: "Let's go see a movie then." or "Do you want to go see a movie?"


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## zaffy

Myridon said:


> No. "Let's go see a movie." doesn't become  "We went saw a movie."



Hmmm. That's what a native, Canadian, said.


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## Nickle Sydney

These automatically-generated subtitles are swarmed with errors. They're not manually added by native speakers or the author. Youtube creates them on its own how "it" hears. _<——-Additional comment removed by moderator (Florentia52)——->_


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## Myridon

The subtitles aren't correct. He says "Me and my friend went* and* saw a movie". The "and" is reduced to 'n' and YouTube didn't pick it up.
Regardless, you can find one example of every wrong thing somewhere on the Internet.  Providing one example is not proof of anything.


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## zaffy

Myridon said:


> The subtitles aren't correct. He says "Me and my friend went* and* saw a movie".



And with the 'and' it is correct, right?

And why do you use the verb 'see' not 'watch'? What if I said "Let's go to watch a film/movie."?


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## kentix

You watch a movie at home. You go see a movie at a theater.


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## zaffy

kentix said:


> You watch a movie at home. You go see a movie at a theater.



And what If I said in AE "Let's go to the theater" as the equivalent of the BE "Let's go to the cinema"? Unnatural?  Would that mean a theater where plays, not movies, are shown?


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## kentix

It's unnatural in the sense that no one would say it. We would always talk about going to see a movie. The place where you see the movie would be a movie theater, but we talk about the activity, not the place.

If you had to talk about the place for some reason you'd call it a movie theater.

"I worked at a movie theater when I was in high school."

Because most movie theaters now are huge and have more than one screen, all showing different movies, they are often called multiplexes. Here's an excerpt from a web page.

_When the Norse god Thor begins swinging his mighty hammer about in multiplexes this weekend, it marks the official start of the summer movie season._

Everyone knows that's a synonym for movie theater.


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## Dhanesh Soni

zaffy said:


> Hmmm. That's what a native, Canadian, said.
> 
> View attachment 32798


it must be like this <   my  friend went to see  a movie >  he is bob the Canadian .  i know him


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## zaffy

kentix said:


> If you had to talk about the place for some reason you'd call it a *movie theater*.



Yeah, but I always come across 'theater' rather than a 'movie theater'. So If I hear "In theaters now", that could refer to a movie or to a play, right?


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## Florentia52

A particular production of a play is generally only done in one theater at a time. "In theaters now" is exclusively used to refer to movies.


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## kentix

You can drop "movie" when it's clear from context what you are talking about. It's clear when you are advertising a movie that it's going to play in a movie theater.

Added:
Where did you get that picture? There was no movie in "theaters all across America" called "Fahrenheit 11/9". The movie is called "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the U.S.

Added Part 2:
This is a different movie than "Fahrenheit 9/11". I'd never heard of it before.


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## zaffy

OK, so If I want to distinguish between those to places, I need to say, for example,

-My dad used to work in a theater.
-My dad used to work in a movie theater.   

right?


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## kentix

Yes.


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## Myridon

Yes, if you're not already talking about movies, you it would be much clearer to should say "movie theater" instead of "theater."


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## zaffy

kentix said:


> You can drop "movie" when it's clear from context what you are talking about.



So If I went to see a movie and, say, lost my phone, we could say:

A: I lost my phone last night.
B: Where?
A: In the theater, I guess.

Right? 




kentix said:


> Where did you get that picture? There was no movie in "theaters all across America" called "Fahrenheit 11/9". The movie is called "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the U.S.
> 
> Added Part 2:
> This is a different movie than "Fahrenheit 9/11". I'd never heard of it before.



I just googled "in theaters now"


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## Myridon

zaffy said:


> So If I went to see a movie and, say, lost my phone, we could say:
> 
> A: I lost my phone last night.
> B: Where?
> A: In the theater, I guess.
> 
> Right?


If *the person you are talking to knows that* you went to see a movie, you can say that.
I went to dinner and to the movies last night and I lost my phone.
Where?
In the theater, I guess.*
*


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## kentix

Although I don't disagree with that, I think I would naturally say, without thinking about it, "At the movie theater, I guess."

The theater is a place in that context (not a building).
- Where did you lose it? At the restaurant?
- No, at the movie theater.

It never hurts to say movie theater but it's not absolutely required if context is enough. So either way is possible.


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## zaffy

And If I asked about what someone did last night, I still can't use a move theater, right? For example,

A: What did you last night?
B: Well, I went to see a movie.   vs. Well, I was at a movie theater. 
A: What did you see?
B: A new movie by.....


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## kentix

No one I know using U.S. English would say that second option.


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## Myridon

"I was at a movie theater" suggests you went to the building for some other purpose than seeing a movie.


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## kentix

That's what I was thinking.

_I was at a movie theater replacing a broken fan on one of their projectors. I'm on call for emergencies like that. I work for an electrical company._


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## zaffy

kentix said:


> You watch a movie at home. You go see a movie at a theater.



And what If a teacher plays a movie in the school? The students 'watch' it or 'see' it or either?


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## kentix

Watch it.


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## zaffy

So what is so specific about the verb 'see'? Why does it refer to cinemas/movie theaters only?


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## kentix

Even when you are sitting in the theater, you are watching the movie.


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## zaffy

kentix said:


> Even when you are sitting in the theater, you are watching the movie.



In other words, 'see a movie' doesn't mean to 'watch a movie'. It just means to go out to a theater to have fun, right?


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