His face always looks smiled - is it OK to say it like this?

Question

Is it OK to say this sentence like this:

- His face always looks smiled.

Meaning there is always a smile on his face...

EDIT: I also can't find the word for one piece of hair. Like one string of hair, or one fibre of hair.... Is it OK to use 'string' or 'fibre' ?

I would realy appreciate any help, thank you in advance.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

paraglajderIs it OK to say this sentence like this:
- His face always looks smiled.
Meaning there is always a smile on his face...

Nope! That doesn't work.
Stick with "There's always a smile on his face!"

We say things like, "It's good to see all your smiling faces this morning!"

I think "a strand of hair" is the standard collocation.

Welcome to English Forums, paraglajder. Thanks for joining us! [

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Best wishes, - A.

Paraglajder · Answer

Thank you, this looks like a nice place

About the sentence are you sure? Can't we say for example:

- He sometimes gets depressed.

or

- He is always jammed (in traffic).

isn't this the same structure with

- His face always looks smiled.

?

This thing realy bothers me. The sentence must be HIS FACE ALWAYS LOOKS _______.

So if it is not 'smiled' what is it then?

Avangi · Answer

paraglajder- He sometimes gets depressed.
or
- He is always jammed (in traffic).
isn't this the same structure with
- His face always looks smiled.

You've located the problem.

A person's face is understood to reflect his mood. So if we want to call attention to a mood-related aspect of his face, we attribute it directly to him, not to his face.

He always looks happy.

He always seems to be smiling.

His face looks as if he is happy. NOT His face looks happy.

". . . . your smiling face" is, I guess, in a special category.

This is not really a technical point, although it may seem so.

It's just a matter of common usage. This just happens to be the way we say it and think about it.

You can say, "His face looks sunburned." This has nothing to do with his mood.

His face always looks flushed. He always looks flushed.

We use both in this case, because we may or may not consider it part of his overall condition.

paraglajderThis thing realy bothers me. The sentence must be HIS FACE ALWAYS LOOKS __.
So if it is not 'smiled' what is it then?

His face always looks as if he is in pain.

We don't even say, "His face always looks unshaven." (Well, I guess it's possible.)

We say, "He always looks unshaven."

I suppose you might say, "His face always looks cheerful," but "He always looks cheerful" is more common.

Same thing with "sad."

"Cheerful" and "sad" are "conventional" adjectives.

"Depressed," "jammed," and "smiled" are past participles. The first two may also be adjectives, but "smiled" may not.

In literature, you'll find the word "countenance," which refers to the face as it reflects the mood.

And then of course, there's Shakespeare:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dim'd.

paraglajderAbout the sentence are you sure? Can't we say for example:
- He sometimes gets depressed.
or
- He is always jammed (in traffic).
isn't this the same structure with
- His face always looks smiled.

Edit. No, it's not the same structure.

When you use a past participle as an adjective, it must be a part of a transitive verb.

"To smile" is intransitive. You can't do it to somebody. (I smiled him.) Nope.

But you can depress someone. You can jam someone.

His face looks bruised. (Somebody bruised it. "To bruise" is a transitive verb. "Bruised" is its past participle.)

Paraglajder · Answer

Wow...

Thank you very very very much. This issue is a lot more clear for me now.

His face always looks smiled - is it OK to say it like this?

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