“Look” as a Phrasal Verb and the Sad Tale of Mr. Gerbil

My sister let the towel unravel from her hand, and Mr. Gerbil landed with a thump. We looked over its tiny little body, looking for any signs of life, but it was too late.

In our previous video we talked about when and how the verb look is used, depending on its meaning. But what we haven’t talked about is the use of look as a phrasal verb. And that’s the subject of today’s Simple English Videos lesson.

Now, when we say phrasal verb, we mean a combination of a verb and a preposition. If you’re watching this video, I’m sure you’re already familiar with some phrasal verbs. Look at these examples. I wake up at six. Get up. Go into the kitchen and heat up some coffee. Wake up, Get up, Go into, Heat up, are all phrasal verbs and their meanings can be easily inferred from the main meaning of the verb. And there are lots of phrasal verbs like these in English. Easy to use, easy to understand. But there are also phrasal verbs that are not directly connected to the meaning of their separate parts. And that’s when it gets tricky. Here’s an example. Jay is putting on his superhero costume. But what’s the opposite action called? Here, Jay’s taking it off. And what’s even more confusing… the verb put off means something completely different. Jay wants to put off the meeting until next week. In this case, put off means to lose interest or  enthusiasm. The soup looks good, but the smell – it’s putting me off. And when you come across (encounter) a phrasal verb, you don’t understand. (Find it in a dictionary) and try to memorize it.

Now, as we’re learning phrasal verbs with the word Look, let’s watch a dialog between a psychiatrist and patient together and try to spot as many Look, phrasal verbs as you can. Let’s see how many you can count.

Tom and the Psychiatrist

When I was in primary school, we had a class pet. a little gerbil called Mr. Gerbil, and we used to take it in turns to take him home and look after him. Now I wanted to be extra careful. So I went to the library to look up all the information on gerbils that I could find. I looked to my uncle, too, who was a vet, for some advice… what to feed it, what to look out for, etc., etc. I looked up to my uncle a lot back then because I wanted to be a vet too. So when it was finally my turn to take Mr. Gerbil home, well, you can imagine how much I was looking forward to it. Anyway, the first afternoon that we had,  Mr. Gerbil, my little sister would not leave him alone. She was playing with him nonstop. In between cooking dinner, my dad would look in on us in the living room, but what he hadn’t noticed was just how rough our gerbil games had become. And then I remember exactly how it happened. I was looking on as Mr. Gerbil tried to escape from a towel that my sister had wrapped him in.  Suddenly we both heard a little click and the towel stopped moving. My sister let the towel unravel from her hand and Mr. Gerbil landed with a thump. We looked over its little body looking for any signs of life, but it was already too late. When I went back to school, I was so ashamed to tell the class. I could feel them all looking down at me as I told them what had happened. And I’ll never forget that look of disappointment in my teacher’s eyes. I think that was the last time she ever looked me in the face. From that day on, she looked through me as if I was invisible. 

Doctor? Doctor, are you listening? I’m telling you about how guilty I still feel. We’ve already looked into the subject of guilt with you, haven’t we? Let’s do it one more time. When we look back on your past, let’s repeat the words: It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.

Tom and Yana Provide Explanations of all the Phrasal Verbs in the Sad Tale of Mr. Gerbil 

How many did you count? Let’s review. 

And we used to take it in turns to take him home and look after him.

Look after means take care of someone. You can look after a pet or a child or an object that doesn’t belong to you. 

So I went to the library to look up all the information on gerbils that I could find. 

Look up means find information. You can look something up on the Internet or in a dictionary.

I looked to my uncle, too, who was a vet.

Look to someone means ask for help or advice from them.

What to feed it, what to look out for.

Look out for means to be vigilant or take notice of potential danger.

I looked up to my uncle a lot back then.

Look up to someone means to admire them. You look up to someone who you like and respect.

Well, you can imagine how much I was looking forward to it.

Look forward to means to be excited about an event that’s going to happen in the future. You can be looking forward to a holiday or to seeing someone or doing something you enjoy.

My dad would look in on us in the living room. 

Look in on someone means visit them in order to check on them to see if they are doing okay. 

I was looking on as Mr. Gerbil tried to escape from a towel that my sister had wrapped him in.

Look on means to watch something happen without taking action.

We looked over its tiny little body.

Look over something means to examine it especially quickly, looking for any signs of life.

Look for something means to search for it 

I could feel them all looking down at me.

Looked down at someone means to disrespect or despise them. You’ll look down at someone if you think you are better than them.

She looked through me as if I was invisible.

Now this phrasal verb has several meanings. Look through can mean to read something quickly, especially in order to find something. You can look through the pages of a book to find a particular page. But in this situation, look through someone means to look at them without really noticing them.

We’ve already looked into the subject of guilt with you, haven’t we?

Look into means to analyze or investigate something in order to discover a solution or new facts. You look into a problem or situation to find out facts related to it.

When we look back on your past, let’s repeat the words: It’s all my fault.

Look back on means to think about a time or an event in the past. You can look back on your childhood or yourself many years ago.

And that was all of them. There were 14 in total, but if you got a greater number, you’ve probably added the two phrases look of disappointment and looked me in the face. 

And I’ll never forget that look of disappointment in my teacher’s eyes. I think that was the last time she ever looked me in the face.

These two sentences also contain the word look, but in the first one, it’s a noun. The word look is widely used as a noun. For example: Have a look. The look of love. In the second sentence, look is used in a set expression. You can look someone in the eye or face, meaning to look openly at them. Now that we’ve talked about most of the phrasal verbs with the word look, why don’t we run a quiz together to see how well you can remember them?

Quiz

Tom’s_________________ the end of his shift.

Tom’s boss asked him to_______________________ the reports before he goes.

Tom___________ his artificial intelligence a

Tom_________________ a way to avoid reading the reports

Tom’s A.I. app offers to___________________ the reports and summarize  them

Tom’s boss____________________ him to see if he’s working.

Conclusion

How did you get on? Do you know of any other ways to use? Look that we didn’t  mention. Tell us in the comments.  And look for Yana and Tom on Instagram at Study 4  English. Thanks for watching. Bye now.