Improve your fluency in English | Native-speaker English expressions with LOOK

Hi there, everybody.

This is Harry and welcome to the advanced English lessons with me, with Harry.

That's me.

Yeah.

Okay.

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Okay, so what are we going to talk about in this particular lesson?

Well, here we're going to have a look at expressions with look.

Okay.

Expressions with look.

So I've got about 10 of these for you.

Okay, I'll give them to you one by one, as I always do.

And then I'll go back and I'll give you some examples.

And hopefully, you'll be able to practice and you'll be able to use them in the future.

You don't want to remember all of them, but you remember some.

If you put them into practice one or two each week, and then you'll build it up.

Okay, so here we go.

Ten.

Take or have a look.

Usually at something.

To look your best.

Look the worse for wear.

The worse for wear.

By the look of it.

Looks like it to me.

Look on the bright side, as that song "Always Look on the bright side of life.

Tu du tu du tu du tu du..."

Look down your nose at somebody or something.

Look before you leap.

Look before you leap.

Look no further.

Look no further.

And then finally, look somebody up and down.

Look somebody up and down.

Okay, let's go through them one by one.

Number one, take or have a look.

Well, when we take or have a look at something, we scrutinise it okay.

We look at it in some detail.

Would you take a look at that, please?

Meaning Will you read the document?

Or tell me what you think?

Or give me your answer or give me your views?

Or your...

your helpful suggestions?

Whatever it might be.

Could you take a look at that?

Can you have a look at that?

Now, you might go into a repair shop with your mobile phone or some gadget that's broken.

And you... you want the guy, Could you have a look at that, please?

It's not working, I don't know.

I can't seem to get any charge in the battery or it doesn't hold the charge.

There's something wrong with it.

Or could you look at my hard drive?

There seems to be a problem.

I've got a blank screen.

So to take a look or have a look.

Now you can also say it in a sort of a... an exclamation.

Wow!

Would you take a look at that!

So yeah, really surprised.

So have a look at that.

Have you ever seen anything so amazing?

Yeah.

So to take a look or have a look in very simple way.

Or put a little bit of intonation into it with an element of surprise, Wow, take a look

at that!

Okay.

Now, next to look your best.

Well, you always want to look your best for certain occasions are gone for the job interview,

you want to look your best, or somebody might say to you, Oh what's up with you?

You look a little bit off colour today, you don't look your best.

So there's something wrong, you might have a pale complexion, little yellow, a little

jaundiced or you might just feel a little bit under the weather.

But if you're going for the job interview, you want to look your best.

If you're getting married, you certainly want to look your best.

Yeah, if you're going to meet the future mother in law, you'd better look your best.

Okay, so to look your best means to look good, as good as you possibly can be.

Okay, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Everything clean and dry behind the ears.

Okay, so to look your best.

Now, the opposite to look the worse for wear usually happens when you've had a few beers

more than you should have had.

A couple of glasses of wine after the meal that went on and on the next day.

You look in the mirror and go Whoa, my god what happened?

I look the worse for wear.

Literally means I don't look so good.

Yeah.

Or perhaps something bad happens.

You might have been mugged in the street.

I was using that word with some students in the last few days talking about different

crimes and the criminals.

And the word "mugged" came up, and a lot of them didn't understand what it meant.

So if somebody jumps you in the street, then you're going to be mugged.

They take your car keys, or your phone, or your wallet, or whatever you have that they

can turn into cash.

So you get mugged.

So if the if they hit you, unfortunately, you get home and you're white with fear or

shock.

Or maybe you've bumped your head or scratched your face and say, Wow, you look the worse

for wear.

What happened to you?

It looks as if you've been in a fight with a Rottweiler.

Nah, no, I got mugged on the way home.

Yeah, so to look the worse for wear.

By the look of it.

Well, we use this expression when we are not sure but we want to express our opinion about

something.

If somebody asked for your opinion, they say, Well, what do you make of that?

Well, by the look of it, it looks like it's a contract.

But we didn't ask them to send us a contract.

Hmmm, what's that?

Well, by the look of it, it looks as if your hard drive is broken.

There's nothing happening to the laptop, it's dead.

Okay.

What about the...

Well, by the look of it, it looks like your water in your aquarium has been poisoned,

all the fish have been starved of oxygen, and they look like as if they're dead.

So I think you need to clean the aquarium out.

So by the look of it, when you're giving your opinion, you're looking at something perhaps

you know more about it than the other person does.

So you're giving them some helpful advice.

By the look of it.

So if you look out the window, the clouds are really dark.

By the look of it, it's going to rain.

And probably rain in the next few minutes.

I think I'd better go now while the going is good.

While I've got the opportunity.

So by the look of it, it's going to rain or snow or some storm coming.

Looks like it.

What do you make of that?

I think it's the order.

I think it's it's on its way back to us the...

Seems there must have been a problem with the delivery.

Yeah, looks like it to me.

So you're agreeing with the person.

Yeah.

So they tell you something, you take a quick look.

And based on what they've said and what you can see, you have to agree.

Yeah, it looks like it to me.

Did you see the notice on the... the window in that Italian restaurant?

I think it's going to close?

Yeah, it looks like it.

I heard rumours that they're having trouble in terms of finance.

It's very difficult to run a restaurant these days, particularly if it's out of the centre

of town.

So it looks like it's going to close.

So again, you're agreeing with the other person in terms of their view or their opinion, something

that they've seen or heard in relation, in this case to the Chinese or Italian restaurant

in the the village.

Okay, so it looks like it.

Might not be true, of course, but all the information would suggest that it is going

to happen.

So yeah, it looks like it.

Look on the bright side.

Well, we always try to encourage people to look on the bright side.

And I said at the beginning, there's a song from the...

I think it's from Monty Python, "Always Look on the bright side of life, tu du tu du tu

du tu du tu du."

Yep.

So when you look on the bright side of things, things may not be as bad as you think they

are.

Okay, so if you always look on the negative side, well, of course, things will always

be negative, there will always be bad.

So if you can, and you want to think make things look a little better, perhaps occasionally,

it would be a good idea.

Unless you're an eternal pessimist, then you should try and look on the bright side of

life.

Yeah, you don't have to say tu du tu du tu du tu du tu du but look on the bright side.

Well, take this .... you're gonna lose your job, the company is moving out of the town.

Well, look on the bright side, you've been wanting to take six months or twelve months

off for a long time.

You said you needed a rest.

Perhaps you'll get another job, or you'll get an opportunity to finish that course,

or to finish the decorating, or to finish building the car.

Look on the bright side.

There's an opportunity.

Yeah, okay.

Or if you have to... you injure yourself when you're out running, trying to prepare for

that marathon a lot.

Look on the bright side, you can always do it next year.

Yep, get yourself fit.

What had happened if you were running in the marathon and you're... you damaged your ankle,

you're gonna... you're never going to recover from that.

So at least you can stop now, get fit, and you'll still be young enough to complete the

marathon next year.

So look on the bright side, don't look at all the negatives.

Try occasionally to take some positives from it.

Even some bad news, look on the bright side.

Next to look down your nose at somebody or to look down your nose at something.

Well, this is when somebody has been a little bit snobbish.

Nah, hmmm....

Literally, they look down their nose.

What's that?

Who's that?

So people who think they're a bit better than the rest of us.

People who think they're a bit higher or more important than the rest of us.

They look down their noses at people.

Okay, so it could be somebody who's very wealthy, looking down their nose, hopefully not at

poor people.

It could be somebody who's offered some very ordinary food when they go to visit somebody

they say, Eww, I don't think I can eat that.

So they look down their nose at some, perhaps basic, but very edible and very tasty foods.

Yeah.

So when you look down your nose at something, or when you look down your nose at somebody,

you treat them with a little bit of disdain.

You treat them as if they are not as good as you, and you're not really so interested.

So be really, really careful how you treat people.

Okay, so to look down your nose at somebody, or indeed something.

Next to look before you leap.

Well, this is a very well-used expression.

Literally what it means if there's a wall, you shouldn't jump over it before you look

on the other side to see what's on the other side because there might be a very steep fall.

And if you jump over the wall without looking, oh, crack, broken leg, broken ankle or even

worse.

So look, before you jump over that wall, look before you leap, leap.

Okay, now, that's the literal meaning of it.

To look before you leap is to be careful and to see what dangers lie ahead before you make

any decisions.

Perhaps you're going to leave the job because you've had a row with your boss.

And you just suddenly decide, Right, that's it, I'm gone.

It might be better to look before you leap in the sense of what's out there.

Are there other jobs available for you for your skills at this time in the economy?

If there's, you know, rising inflation, whatever it might be, it might not be the best time

to change.

Okay, so look before you leap.

So before you take any sudden action, you should always look at what the outcome is

likely to be, so that you don't end up falling on the other side.

And literally, or metaphorically breaking that ankle.

So you want to make sure that you're going to land and land softly and gently without

a lot of pain.

So look before you leap.

It might be when you're planning or you'd like to move out of home where you're living

with your parents and buy your own apartment.

And your friends say, Well, you know, the houses, the cost of property here is ridiculous.

I mean, you're going to need 60 or 70,000 Euro just for the deposit.

And then on top of that, you're going to have to take out a loan for 25 or 30 years.

And on top of that, again, interest rates on the way up.

I don't think I'll do it yet.

I think I'll wait.

So look, before you leap, don't place your deposit on that house.

Don't make that decision to leave home until you're absolutely certain that... that's what

you want to do.

Look before you leap.

Look no further.

Okay, so you look when we use the expression look no further, it means you don't have to

go any further.

The solution is right here.

Okay.

So somebody wants somebody to volunteer to do some work, or they want somebody to drive

the car.

Look no further.

I'm your man.

I can do it.

Yeah.

Okay.

You don't have to look any further.

I'm, I'm the answer to your problem.

So the boss thinking of employing a new sales guy, they want somebody to go and develop

a new market somewhere.

And you say, Look, I'll do it.

Look no further than me.

I really wanted an opportunity.

I think I'd be great in sales.

Look no further means you don't have to go beyond me.

Okay?

In other ways, you might say, Well, you don't have to look any further than... you know,

the people in the city centre.

You can see the way they dress that the economy isn't so good.

So just look around you look at the shops, they are a little bit worn.

Look at the clothes people are wearing, they're not the best.

Look in the newspapers.

You don't have to look any further than those to give your... yourself a good understanding

as to what's happening in the economy in this particular area.

So look no further than the end of your nose.

Okay, so you can... if you don't look any further than the end of your nose, perhaps

the answer is right in front of you.

Okay, look no further.

Okay, and then finally, the last one is to look someone up and down.

Look someone up and down.

So when we do that, we are trying to get a really good impression, a good look at somebody

and it can appear to be a little bit rude.

Who are you?

Well, I'm the new guy and I'm starting today.

Oh, okay.

Well, you better report to the reception.

Okay, so you look somebody up and down and you make or you're trying to make a quick

impression or of what the person is like.

So you look them up and down.

You can look at the menu up and down to see do you fancy something on the menu?

Okay, so not only can you look somebody up and down, but you can also look something

like the menu up and down.

So you're really scrutinising it, you're really looking at it hard to find any fault, to find

something that you like, or to get a second opinion.

So you look the person up and down and maybe you might not like them based on your looks,

which is very dangerous.

Maybe you will like what you see based on your your first look.

So first impressions are always good.

Okay, look them up and down.

Okay so let me give you those expressions to do with look again.

Take or have a look at something or someone.

To look your best.

To look the worse for wear after a very heavy night out on the tiles as we say.

By the look of it.

Looks like it.

Look on the bright side.

Always look on the bright side.

Look down your nose at somebody or something.

Look before you leap.

Be very careful look before you leap.

Look no further.

Look no further than me.

Look somebody up and down, up and down.

Okay, so expressions with look.

So as I always say, you probably won't remember them all, but try to practice one or two of

them every week just to get an understanding.

Put them into your speech, practise writing them and gradually you get the hang of it.

If you don't understand them, well, of course, come back to me at www.englishlessonviaskype.com

and I'll happily give you some more examples.

As always, appreciate you watching and listening.

Join me again soon.