Phrasal Verbs With Look at B1: Look After, Look Into, Look Forward To and More
Look for and look at are A2 English, and most learners know them early. At B1 the look family grows quickly: look after, look into, look up, look up to, look forward to. They are frequent, they are easy to confuse, and one of them hides a grammar trap that even advanced learners fall into.
Most look phrasal verbs still have something to do with eyes or attention, which makes them friendlier than many other families. Look into means to investigate, and you can almost picture someone looking inside a problem. That connection is a useful memory hook, but it does not work for all of them, and the ones where it fails are where mistakes happen.
Every verb below is marked A2 or B1 in our B1 phrasal verbs list and the A2 list, so these are the ones to learn before the rest.
The A2 base
These are probably familiar. They are here because the B1 verbs are easier once the pattern is clear: the small word adds a direction or a purpose to the act of looking.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| look at | turn your eyes towards something | Look at this photo. |
| look for | try to find | I am looking for my keys. |
| look around | walk through a place to see what is there | We looked around the old town. |
| look out | be careful; watch for danger | Look out! There is a car coming. |
The B1 set
These are the ones that make your English sound natural in conversation and at work.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| look after | take care of | Can you look after the children on Saturday? |
| look into | investigate; find out the facts | The company is looking into the complaint. |
| look up | find information in a dictionary or online | I looked the word up on my phone. |
| look up to | admire and respect | She has always looked up to her older sister. |
| look forward to | feel happy about something in the future | I am looking forward to the weekend. |
| look back on | think about something in your past | I look back on those years with a smile. |
| look through | read or check quickly | I looked through my notes before the exam. |
| look over | check something quickly for mistakes | Could you look over my email before I send it? |
The look forward to mistake
This is the mistake almost everyone makes, including learners at C1. In look forward to, the word to is a preposition, not part of an infinitive. After a preposition English uses a noun or the -ing form of a verb.
So the correct sentence is I look forward to hearing from you, not I look forward to hear from you. The same rule gives I am looking forward to the trip and We are looking forward to seeing you.
A quick test: if you can put a noun after to, then to is a preposition and the verb needs -ing. I look forward to the meeting works, so I look forward to meeting you is the right form. The same is true of be used to and object to.
| Correct | Wrong |
|---|---|
| I look forward to hearing from you. | I look forward to hear from you. |
| We are looking forward to seeing you. | We are looking forward to see you. |
Where the object goes
Most look phrasal verbs are not separable. The object comes after the whole verb: look after the dog, look into the problem, look up to your teacher. You cannot split them, so look the dog after is wrong.
Look up (find information) and look over (check quickly) are the exceptions. They are separable, so look the word up and look up the word are both correct. With a pronoun, it goes in the middle: look it up, look it over.
Look up or look up to?
One small word changes the meaning completely. Look up something is about information: you look up a word, a train time or an address. Look up to someone is about respect: you look up to a parent, a coach or a writer you admire. The object tells you which one you need. If it is a person you admire, add to.
Two more pairs are worth keeping apart. Look after is to take care of someone; look for is to try to find them. Look through is to read something quickly; look into is to investigate it properly.
How to learn them
Do not learn all twelve in one sitting. Start with look after, look into and look forward to, because they are the most frequent, and write one sentence for each that is true about your own life. Test yourself on them again over the next few days, leaving a longer gap each time.
When those come without effort, add look up to and look back on. The B1 phrasal verbs list has the other verbs at the same level, with their meanings and examples.