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 just looking.
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.
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:
He looks like someone famous.
It looks like a nice day outside.
She looks as if she is going to cry.
They looked as though they had seen a ghost.
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?
