"He was looking at his watch."
Translation:On patrzył na zegarek.
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Why there's no swój, jego? All this crown teached me to not type his and type his when I see it in English... Yes for me it is obvious that it is his watch but the Rosetta from the beginning teaches you different
OK, but those are basically always necessary in English, while it's often redundant to use a possessive in Polish.
As "zegarek" is usually something worn on one's wrist, it seems most probable that this was his own watch, although it can also be "the watch" or "a watch", of course. But if it really was "his watch", there's no need to call it "swój zegarek" in Polish, but there is in English.
Shouldn't it be patrzeł, according to the link below?
http://sjp.pwn.pl/poradnia/haslo/patrzec-patrzyc;409.html
What is the difference between patrzeć and patrzyć?
Additionally, I used zobaczył. Why couldn't I use this verb? What is the difference between zobaczyć and patrzyć/patrzeć?
"patrzeł" does not exist.
as the linked "advice" says, it's
patrzeć= patrzał
patrzyć=patrzył
both verbs mean the same, but for some reason infinitive "patrzyć" is more popular, while "changed" forms patrzyłam/patrzyłeś/patrzył/patrzyli etc are more popular.
also widzieć/zobaczyć mean "to see"- zobaczyć is perfective so it is more about "effect", but with those two it is hard to tell the difference.
Both "patrzeć" and "patrzyć" are correct and mean the same, but while the infinitive form "patrzeć" is much more often used than "patrzyć", in past tenses it's more common to choose the patrzyć conjugation. Patrzeć - patrzałem/am, patrzałeś/aś, patrzał/-ła/-ło, ... (a little old-fashioned) Patrzyć - patrzyłem/am, patrzyłeś/aś, patrzył/-ła/-ło, ... Zobaczyć (kogoś, coś) - to see (sb, sth), patrzeć/patrzyć (na) - to look (at).
"spojrzał" to czasownik dokonany, a więc nie pasuje do czasu Present Continuous, wyrażającego, że coś trwało przez pewien czas. Gdyby to było "He looked at his watch" - jasne, wtedy "spojrzał" pasuje idealnie.