In a non creepy way maybe?

(additional question, how would I respond to that claim with 'it turned out to
be someone else')
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-20T18:32:24.227
52535
2017-08-25T22:08:48.187
25485
question
translation
How do I say I saw you
I believe the feeling you're trying to convey would best be expressed with
"見かける". "見る" is literally "to see". "見かける" is more like "to happen to see" or
"to catch sight of". Of course saying "あなたを見ました" makes sense, but to a native
speaker it sounds so literal--sort of like saying "I saw the signpost." I
think you should say "X-さんを見かけました". If this person is an acquaintance or
friend, you should use the more informal past tense form of "見かける" and say
"X-さんを見かけた".
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2017-08-25T16:24:07.027
52698
2017-08-25T16:24:07.027
25534
52535
answer
Adding to Ura's great answer:

If you want to say you thought you saw someone but it turned out to someone
else you could say something like

> Xーさんを見かけたと思ったが間違いでした
>
> I thought I saw so-and-so but I was mistaken (lit. it was a mistake).

Then you could say

> 実はXーさんでした
>
> It was actually so-and-so
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-25T22:08:48.187
52702
2017-08-25T22:08:48.187
22133
52535
answer