by R. S. Karunaratne

Usage of 'look'

Look is a regular verb:
Present tense: look
Past tense: looked

Past participle: looked

Here, look means directing your eyes at somebody or something
Look at this map and tell me where Sri Lanka is.
Why are you looking at her?
She looked everywhere for her pair of spectacles.
She blushed and looked away.
Look can be used as a noun.

Take a good look at this car.
I want to have a look at the new house.
Sometimes, look at can mean 'read', examine or consider.'
The interviewer had a look at my CV (= curriculum vitae)
The Government is looking at the social implications of the new regulations.
The publisher had a brief look at my manuscript.
Look can mean 'seem' or 'appear'
My sister looks like Kajol.
You look very tired.
She looks pale.
Looks as if we are going to miss the train. (used in speech)
What does your boss look like?
Some adverbs such as 'carefully, closely, sternly, intently, longingly' are used with 'look'.
The principal looked at the student sternly.
Before crossing the road, he looked at the traffic carefully.

'Turn and 'let' are two verbs that frequently occur with look

He turned to look in my direction.
Let me look at your stamp album.
Look is used with many phrasal verbs.
She looks after her old parents. (= takes care)

Some local authorities do not look after the needs of the people. (= be responsible)
Most of us look back on our happy days. (=think about)
You must not look down on poor people. (=treat them as inferior)
Many young graduates are looking for employment (=trying to find)
We are looking forward to his visit. (= we want it to happen)
A committee has been set up to look into our grievances. (=find out)
Some people look on when an innocent man is beaten. (=watch)
Look out! We're approaching a tunnel. (=be careful)
We looked round the old castle. (=walked round)
Some refugees look to the future with a certain anxiety. (=think about)
Please look up the meaning of 'doodle' in the dictionary (=find out)
Young children look up to their teachers. (=admire)

Current English usage

1. Per cent/percentage We use 'per cent' (as two words) when we talk about fractions. 60 per cent of the voters do not want a change of Government. 'Percentage' is a fraction expressed as a particular number of hundredths. Australia has a high percentage of immigrants. 2. onto/on to Ten school children got onto a bus. (= into) They climbed on to the hill with great difficulty. (= meaning of the two words should be taken separately) 3. Kind of/sort of are slang expressions. Instead, you can use 'rather' or 'somewhat'. The new watcher looked rather old. I was somewhat surprised to see him at the theatre. 4. as if/like He sings as if he were a professional singer. (He is not a professional singer) You are like your mother. (You resemble your mother) 5. 'Which of the two' is followed by a singular verb. Which of the two boys is the stronger? 'Prevent' must be followed by 'from' Parents try to prevent their children from telling lies. 7. 'as if' is followed by a verb in the past tense. You speak as if you met the principal.

Longest English word?

There are many words in the English dictionary which you may not be familiar with. Some of the words you come across may even be difficult to pronounce, even though a guide to pronunciation has been given. Out of all the words given in the dictionary what do you think is the longest word? S.P. Kumarasinghe of Kirillawala, Weboda believes that the longest English word, containing 28 letters is ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM. What do you think? And what does the word mean? It is 'opposition to the movement to disestablish the Church.'He had heard this word at a Spelling B Contest held at St. Servatius College, Matara, conducted by the Director of Education, Matara Division way back in the 60s and decided to share it with you today. However, there is another word in the Chambers dictionery Floccinaucinihilipilification (facetious) which means 'setting at little or no value or at a trifle. It has 29 letters.So, why don't you check out on some of the long words, containing more that 20 letters perhaps, and familiarise yourselves with these jaw-breakers?

Starters:

Pronouns as the subject

Pronouns are used in place of nouns. The following pronouns can be used as the subject of a sentence.

I, you, he, she, it, we, they

When you have to use 'I' and another pronoun, put yourself last.

Nimmi and I went to school on Monday.

If you write: "I and Nimmi went to school on Monday," the sentence is grammatically wrong.

Here is a paragraph written by a child. Help him to use pronouns instead of repeating nouns in the sentences.

Original passage:

Amanda put on a wig. The wig was black. Amanda looked somewhat younger than she really was. Amanda took out her red umbrella and unfurled the umbrella. Amanda said, "Dilini you should go to school," Dilini said, "I don't feel well," Amanda asked "Do I look young?" Dilini started laughing.

Passage re-written with pronouns:

Amanda put on a wig. It was black. She looked somewhat younger than she really was. She took out her red umbrella and unfurled it. She said, "Dilini should go to school." Dilini said, "I don't feel well," Amanda asked, "Do I look young?" Dilini started laughing.

You will note that pronouns have not been used in certain places to avoid confusion..