People often get misunderstandings by words. It creates unnecessary confusion and may even affect the relationship between two people. One must ensure that they communicate properly with others to avoid any chaos.
Key Takeaways
- Going out implies a casual, non-exclusive dating relationship while seeing someone suggests a more serious and committed partnership.
- Communication and expectations are generally more open in going out while seeing someone involves more in-depth conversations and future planning.
- Emotional investment is higher when seeing someone than going out, as the latter is often more focused on having fun.
Going Out vs Seeing Someone
The difference between going out and seeing someone is that going out more likely refers to a date with someone, and seeing someone refers to a formal visit. If we look deeper, going out can also be termed as going out on a date with someone, while seeing someone can be a little formal. One may say that they are seeing someone, that someone may be a doctor visit, a relative visit, and as such.

Going out means a person is going out with someone. It may be a date or a movie night. Going out is more often associated with going on a date.
Seeing someoneโ can have a lot of meaning. The word โseeing someoneโ is also often is associated with romantic relationships, as in an individual is seeing their partner.
Comparison Table
Parameters of Comparison | Going Out | Seeing Someone |
---|---|---|
Meaning | Going out means a person is going out with someone. | Seeing someone can be associated with romantic relationships as well as formal meets. |
Example | โRuth is going out with her boyfriend tonightโ. | She said, โIโm seeing my family doctor this weekendโ. |
Relationship | Going out is more often associated with dating. | Seeing someone can be of a formal meeting or visiting an intimate partner. |
Intimacy | Starting stage of the relationship. | The level of the relationship is quite intimate. |
Type | Informal meetings. | Since it has many meanings, it can be formal and informal meets. |
What is Going Out?
The phrase going out is used in different contexts and has different meanings too. For a non-native speaker of English, the expression โgoing outโ would not be enough to understand what the speaker is conveying.
People tend to go out with the people they are accustomed to. It could either be less well-known as a starting stage of a friendship. It could also be very much familiar, like with a personโs best friends.ย
Apart from these meanings, the phrase โgoing outโ can also be used in the context of relationships and dating. This phrase is generally used to describe the beginning stages of a relationship.
Going out can be used as a phrase that denotes the building or developing of a relationship. People use this phrase when they are casually going out on dates and meeting other people.

What is Seeing Someone?
This phrase is used in different contexts and has varying meanings. This phrase can convey incorrect meanings to the listener. It also has the potential to destroy the relationship between two people.
This phrase can have a lot of purposes. To put it into simple terms, one of the contexts in which the phrase โseeing someoneโ is used is when a person is meeting their romantic partner.
A person can be seeing someone when they are meeting their romantic partner. This relationship can be pretty intimate. The expression is also used when a person is considering marriage with their romantic partner.
It can also be a professional or a formal meeting with someone. โSeeing someoneโ is also practised when a person has a formal appointment with someone, like a doctor. Professional and formal usage of the phrase is common, too, like โseeing a doctorโ or โseeing a lawyerโ.

Main Differences Between Going Out and Seeing Someone
- โGoing outโ is mostly considered an informal meeting. โSeeing someoneโ is related to both formal and informal meetings.
- โIโm going out with my girlfriendโ is an example of the term โgoing outโ. He said, โIโm seeing my sick aunt this weekendโ, which is an example of the term โSeeing someoneโ.


Emma Smith holds an MA degree in English from Irvine Valley College. She has been a Journalist since 2002, writing articles on the English language, Sports, and Law. Read more about me on her bio page.