look over

Meaning

To 'look over' something means to examine, inspect, or review it quickly to check for mistakes or to get a general idea of its contents. It is very common in academic and professional contexts when asking someone to proofread or double-check work.

Examples

• Could you look over my essay before I submit it to the professor?

  Could you look over my essay before I submit it to the professor?

• The teacher promised to look over our project drafts and give feedback.

  The teacher promised to look over our project drafts and give feedback.

• I need to look over my notes one more time before the exam starts.

  I need to look over my notes one more time before the exam starts.

• She quickly looked over the syllabus to see when the final paper was due.

  She quickly looked over the syllabus to see when the final paper was due.

• Let's look over the assignment guidelines together to make sure we didn't miss anything.

  Let's look over the assignment guidelines together to make sure we didn't miss anything.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ I overlooked my essay before submitting it.

  ✓ I looked over my essay before submitting it.

  'Overlook' means to fail to notice or ignore a mistake. 'Look over' means to inspect or review something for errors.

• ✗ Please look over at my research paper when you have time.

  ✓ Please look over my research paper when you have time.

  Do not use the preposition 'at' after 'look over' when you mean to examine. 'Look over at' means to physically turn your head to look in the direction of someone or something.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Can you ___ my presentation slides to see if there are any typos?

  💡 examine quickly for errors

  Show answer

  look over

• Before the test, I always ___ my study guide.

  💡 review

  Show answer

  look over