0
Taka Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

think about

0・We may think that science is everything in our life.00 00But if we 01u00look at02u00 our life very carefully, we will find that we are still influenced by many superstitions.02br
00If I replaced 'look at' with 'think about', would it still sound OK? 0-
  

Top answer

0 Sounds OK butchanges the feel slightly. "Look at" = inspect or scrutinize. 0-

— Huevos

  • 0 Sounds OK butchanges the feel slightly.
  • "Look at" = inspect or scrutinize.
  • 0-
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

12 Answers
0
0 Sounds OK butchanges the feel slightly. "Look at" = inspect or scrutinize. 0-
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Taka12cite10If I replaced 'look at' with 'think about', would it still sound OK?12blockquote
10 Sure! look at -- think about -- six of one -- half a dozen of another.02br
00CJ 0-
0
0
0 Good! Now what about this? Does it still sound OK?02br
00・We may think that science is everything in our life.00 00But if we 01u00think about02u00 our life 01u00very closely02u00, we will find that we are still influenced by many superstitions.0-
0
0
0look at/closely gives an "optical" POV02br
00think about/carefully gives a "rational/thinking" POV02br
00They will be taken by many to be quite the same, but a writer should be careful about what imagine/environment he wants to establish in the mind of the readers. 0-
0
0
0Can I vote for "examine"?0-
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Grammar Geek12cite10Can I vote for "examine"?12br
12br
12blockquote
10That's a good word, but right now I'm thinking about the colocation.02br
00GG, does '01u00think about02u00 something 01u00very closely02u00' sound OK?0-
0
0
0It sounds fine, but it seems like you want people to look/examine/review their actual actions and beliefs, while "think about" is more abstract.0-
0
0
0 So '(very) closely' can be used with 'think about.' Good. 02br
00GG, are 'look at' and 'examine' always interchangeable?02br
02br
00・We've 00looked00 very closely 00at00 the difference between English and Japanese.02br
00・We've 01u00examined02u00 the difference between English and Japanese very closely. 0-
0
0
0 So '(very) closely' can be used with 'think about.' Good. 02br
00GG, are 'look at' and 'examine' always interchangeable?02br
02br
00・We've 00looked00 very closely 00at00 the difference between English and Japanese.02br
00・We've 01u00examined02u00 the difference between English and Japanese very closely. 0-
0
0
0I think examine is the same as "look at very closely" - although you'll certainly hear it, examine closely seems a bit redundant. (On the other hand, you can give something a cursory examination, so maybe you can give it a close examination as well.) Now that I can argue on both sides of this issue, I'm not sure I can be much further help. None of what you've written sounds wrong - how's that?
0

Related Questions