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Newguest Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

is/look

0Hi02br
02br
00He is rather slender these days, isn't he?02br
02br
00He looks rather slender these days, doesn't he?02br
02br
00I suppose that "look" is better in this case cause it says "these days." Am I right?0-
  

Top answer

02br 02br 00To me, there's no difference between "looks" and "is" except the one that is self-evident: "looks" emphasises how he appears, and "is" emphasises how he, well, is. 0-

— Mr Wordy

  • 02br 02br 00To me, there's no difference between "looks" and "is" except the one that is self-evident: "looks" emphasises how he appears, and "is" emphasises how he, well, is.
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28 Answers
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0I don't see that the presence of "these days" has any influence on the choice between "is" and "looks".02br
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00To me, there's no difference between "looks" and "is" except the one that is self-evident: "looks" emphasises how he appears, and "is" emphasises how he, well, is. To the extent that he looks as slender as he is, and the usual way of telling that he is slender i
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0However, we rather say: He is tall, instead of He looks tall.02br
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00I think I get your point.0-
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0Yep. "Tall", for some unknown reason, seems a slightly less subjective word than "slender" or "thin" -- at least in this context. So, while "he looks tall" is by no means wrong, "he is tall" would be more usual because there's more of an assumption that we know whether or not he really 01i00is02i00 tall.0-
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0Thanks 050010id5
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Newguest12cite10Hi12br
12br
10He 11b10is12b10 rather slender these days,11b10 isn't12b10 he?12br
12br
10He looks rather slender these days, doesn't he?12br
12br
10I suppose that "look" is better in this case cause it says "th
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1blockquote
01cite10Yoong Liat12cite12br
11blockquote
11cite20Newguest22cite20Hi22br
22br
20He 21b20is22b20 rather slender these days,21b20 isn't22b20 he?22br
22br
20He looks rather slender these days, doesn't he?22br
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0Hi Newguest02br
02br
00My apologies. I misread your question.0-
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0Hi,02br
02br
00You might commonly say something like this.02br
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01font00Hi Mary, you 01u00look 02u00tall in those new high heels.02font02br
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00Clive0-
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1blockquote
01cite10Yoong Liat12cite12br
10He 11b10isn't 12b10rather slender these days, 11b10is12b10 he? 12br
12br
10He 11b10doesn't12b10 look rather slender these days, 11b10does12b10 he?12br
12br
10"Rather" (in this
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1blockquote
01cite10Mr Wordy12cite10 Yep. "Tall", for some unknown reason, seems a slightly less subjective word than "slender" or "thin" -- at least in this context. So, while "he looks tall" is by no means wrong, "he is tall" would be more usual because there's more of an assumption that we know whether or not he really 11i10is12i10
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