This is one of the most frequent doubts, and one that only assails us when we write, because, when speaking, there is no room for doubt. When we are reading a book, we say that we “keep an eye on it” or that we “turn the pages quickly”, but when we say it we always use the same phoneme. However, when writing, doubts arise: Should we write “browse” and “browse”? this is what the Royal Spanish Academy says.
As explained by the institution in its online consultation service and abundant in publications such as the “Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts”, Both forms are correct, but it depends on what we want to say at the moment. “Both options are possible. “Looking through will be used to simply indicate that you take a quick look at the book and leafing through to indicate that you turn its pages quickly, without reading them carefully.”
In this line, abounds in explanations the “DiPan-Hispanic Dictionary of Dudas”, which explains the meaning of both terms. In the case of skimming, it is “looking quickly and superficially [algo o a alguien]”, while, in the case of browsing, it explicitly warns of confusion: “Quickly turn the pages [de una publicación, libro o cuaderno] without reading them carefully’: «One day I took the guest book from my husband’s wake and I started to look through it» (Millás Mujeres [Esp. 2002]). It should not be confused with ojear (‘take a quick and superficial look’)”. By the way, as the RAE itself says, In the case of the electronic book, if it has pages, even if they are virtual, you can also “flip through.”
