Look

We use the verb look to mean ‘turn our eyes in a particular direction to see something’. It is followed by at to refer to the person or thing which we see:

He’s looking at me.

Not: He’s looking me.

Look, there’s a massive spider!

Don’t look now.

[In a shop]

A:
Can I help you?

B:
No thank you, I’m justlooking.

Warning:

We don’t use look with if or whether. We use see instead:

Can you see if there are any biscuits in the cupboard?

Not: Can you look if there are …

Look is used to form a number of phrasal and prepositional verbs (look for, after, look up, etc.). A good dictionary will give you information on these verbs.

Look as a linking verb

We often use look as a linking verb like appear, be, become, seem. As a linking verb, look does not take an object and it is followed by a phrase or clause which gives more information about the subject (a complement):

That picture looks old.

That jacket looks very expensive.

Look as a linking verb is sometimes followed by like, as if or as though:

look like + noun phrase

He looks like someone famous.

It looks like a nice day outside.

look as if/as though + clause

She looks as if she is going to cry.

They looked as though they had seen a ghost.

Look as a discourse marker

We sometimes use look as a discourse marker but it needs to be used carefully as it is very strong. We use it when we are explaining something or making a point, especially when we are annoyed or speaking very forcefully:

[in a political debate]

Look, too many people have died in this war.

[a boss talking to an employee]

Look, Mark, you have been late for work every day this week. Is there a reason?