Regular verb
The verb to look
look → looked → looked
A1Meaning: to turn your eyes towards something; to seem · Type: regular · Frequency: Top 10 English verbs
Key points to remember
- Present Simple:
look / looks - Past Simple:
looked - Past participle:
looked - -ing form:
looking
Conjugation of the verb to look
Present Simple
| I | look |
| You | look |
| He / She / It | looks |
| We | look |
| You (pl.) | look |
| They | look |
Past Simple
| I | looked |
| You | looked |
| He / She / It | looked |
| We | looked |
| You (pl.) | looked |
| They | looked |
All the forms of the verb to look
Present Simple
Full pagelook / looks
“Look at the sky!”
See the pagePresent Continuous
Full pageam / is / are looking
“I am looking at the sky right now.”
See the pagePast Simple
Full pagelooked
“She looked tired.”
See the pagePast Continuous
Full pagewas / were looking
“I was looking at the sky when the phone rang.”
See the pagePresent Perfect
Full pagehave / has looked
“I have already looked at the sky.”
See the pagePast Perfect
Full pagehad looked
“She had already looked at the sky when I arrived.”
See the pageFuture Simple
Full pagewill look
“I will look at the sky tomorrow.”
See the pageGoing to Future
Full pageam / is / are going to look
“I'm going to look at the sky this weekend.”
See the pageConditional (would)
Full pagewould look
“I would look at the sky if I had time.”
See the pageHow to use to look
1. Looking at something
- Look at this!
2. Looking for something
Look for means to try to find something.
- Look for your keys.
3. Saying how someone seems
Look + adjective means to seem: it describes how someone or something appears.
- She looks happy.
A common mistake
1. Look out! = look outside ❌
Look out! is a warning: it means be careful! People shout it when there is danger: Look out! The floor is wet. To look outside, say look out of the window.
Going further
Conjugating to look is a key skill in the English contest
Every year, the Big Challenge tests the key English verbs. Register your students so they can check their level in a real contest.
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Practise on PLAYYou can conjugate to look. Now say it out loud.
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For teachersReady-made activities to practise to look in class
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Related pages: look
Pages on a similar topic or with a similar use, so you can keep exploring.
Frequently asked questions
What is the past simple of look?+
Look is a regular verb. Its Past Simple and its past participle are both looked: I looked out of the window.
What is the difference between look, see and watch?+
Look at means to turn your eyes towards something, on purpose: Look at this photo! See means that something comes into your eyes, without any effort: I can see the sea from my room. Watch means to look at something for some time, often something that moves: We watched a football match on TV.
What are the phrasal verbs with look?+
Each small word changes the meaning. Look at: to turn your eyes to something. Look for: to try to find something. Look after: to take care of someone. Look up: to find a word in a dictionary. Look forward to: to be happy about something in the future. Look out!: be careful!
Is it look happy or look happily?+
Say look happy. Here, look means to seem: it describes how someone or something appears. After it, use an adjective, not an adverb in -ly: She looks happy. The food looks delicious. The same is true for seem, feel and taste.
What does look out mean?+
Look out! is a warning. It means “be careful, there is danger!”: Look out! There's a car! Look out for something means to watch carefully so that you notice it: Look out for the bus stop.
Updated on 12 November 2026 by the Big Challenge teaching team. Every year, more than 500,000 students across Europe take part in our English contest, created in 1999. Our teaching approach →
The Big Challenge · Updated on 12 November 2026 · Source: www.thebigchallenge.com/bl/academy/learn-english/verbs/look
© The Big Challenge. Copying allowed for classroom use. Every year, more than 500,000 students across Europe take part in our English contest, created in 1999.