I ran across this sentence in a podcast prepared for English learners:
She sees such magazines for the garbage that they are, and chooses not to read them.
I can see what it means, but still cannot get my head around how it is structured; see for is not a phrasal verb, nor could I find a meaning for for that can sit well in the sentence. What is your take on this, please?
'See for' or 'take for' is used to refer to perception. In this case, she perceives the magazines as being garbage, and the writer confirms this description purely based on opinion ("that they are").
The sentence could be rewritten as:
She sees such magazines as the garbage that they are, and chooses not to read them.
Maybe this description helps For what I've read, It is "The way I see it, From my point of view".
