Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

I read some of the book my son was reading at home yesterday. It read "I look him." Afterwards, I felt curious about the difference between "I look him" and "I look at him" What is the difference between the two?

share|improve this question
Could you provide a bit more context, please? For example, add the sentence before "I look him" and the sentence after so we can better understand the passage. – Mahnax Dec 10 '12 at 6:34
2  
"I look him" on its own doesn't sound like English to me. However, "I look him in the eye" or "I look him up in the Who's Who of Complete Unknowns" would be ok. Is it something like this? – Simon Hoare Dec 10 '12 at 6:47
Yes, right. But what the difference between "I look him in the eye," and " I look his eye." – 박용현 Dec 10 '12 at 6:52
3  
@user31377 The difference is that “I look his eye” is not English, and the other is. – tchrist Dec 10 '12 at 6:57
This is probably the result of a badly edited book! Read some more to see if there are any more "gems" in there. :) – Ian Atkin Dec 10 '12 at 7:02

closed as not a real question by Urbycoz, J.R., Matt Эллен, Robusto, tchrist Dec 10 '12 at 14:55

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

1 Answer

up vote 5 down vote

It’s important to see the entire context of use. These are all grammatical constructions:

  • look something up

  • look something up and down

  • look somebody in the eye/face

But “I look him” is not an alternative to “I look at him”.

share|improve this answer
1  
+1, and to generalise, “I look him…” occurs with phrasal verbs of look where him is the direct object. – Jon Purdy Dec 10 '12 at 8:38

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.