Look around means to turn your head to see what is near you, or to walk around a place to see what it is like: a city, a museum, a flat. Without an object, it is a quick look at your surroundings: I looked around. With a place, it is a walk or a visit: look around the museum. In British English you will also hear look round.
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look around (you); look around + a place (the city/a flat/the museum); look around it; look around for + something
- When I heard my name, I looked around, but I couldn't see anyone I knew.
- We had two free hours before our train, so we looked around the harbour.
- The estate agent let us look around the flat on our own.
What changed
First versionOn Sunday we looked the old town and had lunch by the river.
RevisionOn Sunday we looked around the old town and had lunch by the river.
It's tempting to say looked the old town, as if look worked like visit or see. But look cannot take an object directly. You need around, meaning 'in every part of a place': looked around the old town. The object, including a pronoun, goes after around: look around it.
Look around the flat means to walk through it and see everything. Look at the flat means just to look at it, for example in photos or from outside. With for, the meaning changes to 'search, compare options': I'm looking around for a cheaper gym.
Your turn
The flat looked nice in the photos, but we wanted to ___ it in person before signing anything.
Show the answer
look around — They want to walk through the flat and see it before signing the contract, so look around. Look through means to go quickly through papers or things, which doesn't work for a home.
Describe a place you explored on a trip or in your own town. Name the place and one detail you remember.
Last summer we looked around the castle in Edinburgh, and I still remember the view from its walls.
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