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How to say “take a look” like a native speaker

Ask someone to examine or briefly view something. Add “at” before naming what they should look at.

All phrases · Workplace

Hear “take a look” in real speech

Clip 1 · Adam Grant

Adam Grant: How to stop languishing and start finding flow | TED · 10:40

About this video

Adam Grant describes falling into patterns of late-night scrolling and television watching despite his own rules. He discusses languishing and contrasts passive entertainment with active involvement that can lead to flow.

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In context

mastering the art of stacking M&M's on top of each other.

Take a look.

This is going to be harder than I thought.

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Clip 2 · Bill Gates

Innovating to zero! | Bill Gates · 4:31

About this video

Bill Gates talks about energy, climate and the need to reduce emissions. He explains why climate changes affect people living in poverty and discusses possible energy technologies, including a nuclear-fuel idea.

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In context

That's back from high school algebra.

But let's take a look.

First, we've got population.

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Clip 3 · Dan Pink

The puzzle of motivation | Dan Pink | TED · 1:47

About this video

Dan Pink discusses motivation and the relationship between rewards and performance. After a story about his time at law school, he considers research in which larger rewards did not improve results on thinking tasks.

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In context

dare I say lawyerly case, for rethinking how we run our businesses.

So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, take a look at this.

This is called the candle problem.

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When to use “take a look”

  • Showing a possible mistake: “Could you take a look at this total?”
  • Inviting someone to browse: “Take a look around while I find the key.”

Common learner mistake

Include “at” before the thing: “take a look at the photo”, not “take a look the photo”.

Possible connected-speech patterns in “take a look”

The final K of “take” links into the weak article “a”. “Look” has the vowel of “book”, not the longer vowel of “food”.

Related phrases

Everyday sentence practice · Connected speech practice

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