Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Xavier da Silva]

Hello everyone,

I'd like to know if the verbs "see","attend to" and "treat" could be used in the same context? Could you take a look at the contexts, please?

Person 1: That hospital is very bad, you have to wait a long time for them to see you and they don't see you properly.
Person 2: Yes, you're right. That's why a prefer the other hospital. There, they see you properly and you don't have to wait long.

Could I use the collocation "well" instead of "properly"? Ex.: "He attended to me well."

My definition of "see","attend to" and "treat": Give medical care and take care of the patient, talking, advising, prescribing, examining,etc.

Thank you very much in advance!
_________________
All the best!

[pugachevV]

Person 1: That hospital is very bad, you have to wait a long time for them to see you and they don't see you properly.

In this sentence, ... you have to wait a long time for them to see you, is correct.
See, in this context, means to consult a specialist or professional.

The second part, however, but they don't see you properly is not the correct way to use see. You could say they don't see to you properly, which means they don't deal with you properly, but it would be much better to say they don't treat you properly, because one of the meanings of treat is: to give medical care or attention to (someone). As you can see, that is exactly what you want to say.



Person 2: Yes, you're right. That's why a prefer the other hospital. There, they see you properly and you don't have to wait long.

Similarly in Person 2's reply, treat conveys exactly the meaning you are looking for and is therefore the best word.

Attend to means, to deal with. It has no specific medical connection and so I would not recommend it for these sentences.

[jumbonaut]

These three verbs will get your point across but there are differences.

"To see" someone is "to meet" with them. You can see a doctor, a lawyer, a friend, or anybody. When you literally go to see a doctor, it does not necessarily mean you will receive treatment.

"To attend to" someone is to give attention to and fulfill needs for a person. A doctor will typically attend to a patient when he comes to see him. That is why it is almost interchangeable. But if you went to see a friend, he would probably not attend to you.

"To treat" would be to analyze, diagnose and offer ways to fix any problems you are having. If you go to a doctor, and then he attends to you, and then finds a problem, he would then treat you. You could be attended to, but not be treated.

However, if someone said you weren't "treated properly," they may be referring to how the doctor or his staff acted toward you. If they were rude, you would say you were "treated poorly."
_________________
Pat Mallon
www.englishnation.net

[Xavier da Silva]

Thank you very much for your answers. One last question:

Could I use the colocations "well" and "very well" in the contexts below (treat:to give medical care or attention to someone)?

Person 1: I like that hospital because the doctors treat you well and you don't have to wait long.
Person 2: Yes, you're right. You're very well treated there.

Thank you very much in advance!
_________________
All the best!

[pugachevV]

Yes, that's perfectly OK.