Is LOOK an action verb or a state verb?
Espresso English Podcast

Is LOOK an action verb or a state verb?

B1IntermediateNovember 4, 20261 min
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Hi students, this month we have a special series called Ask the Teacher where I answer real questions from English learners like you. You can download a PDF of all 30 Ask the Teacher lessons by clicking on the link in the podcast description or visiting EspressoEnglish.net slash ask. If you like my lessons, also make sure to hit follow and subscribe to the podcast

0:24

so you'll get every single episode. Now let's get to today's student question. Is look an action verb or a state verb? Well, it can be both. When a person is doing the action of looking, it is an action verb. For example, I'm looking around the store. He's looking at the painting. Action verbs can be used in continuous form. But when talking

0:53

about an object's appearance, then it is a state verb and it can't be continuous. So we say, This painting looks very old, not this painting is looking very old. These books look interesting, not these books are looking interesting. When a person is doing the action, look is an action verb and we can say looking.

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