Common Confusing Words in English: Look over / Overlook

Overlook and look over are two terms that are very similar but mean two different things. They are often confused. We will look at the definitions of the terms overlook and look over, how they are used and some examples of that use in sentences.

1. Look over (phrasal verb)

Meaning

  • When you look over something or someone, you quickly examine it or them.
For example:

"I asked my teacher to look over what I had written."


2. Overlook (verb)


Meaning

  • 1. Overlook means to ignore, to not notice something. When you overlook someone or something you fail to notice or consider it or them.

For example:
"I think my teacher overlooked some of my mistakes."
  • 2. Overlook also means to observe something from above.

For example:
"We can overlook the sea from here."

Note: Look over is two separate words, overlook is one word.

More Example Sentences

Look over

  • "Make sure to look over the wine list while you wait for your meal."
  • "Let me look over my schedule."
  • "We must look over the house before we decide to rent it."
  • "Some officials will look over our factory this Friday."
  • "Would you quickly look over these figures for me and see if there are any obvious mistakes?"
  • "Will you please look over my report before I submit it?"

Overlook

  • "We can overlook the city from here."
  • "We overlook the church from our house."
  • "It is easy to overlook a small detail like that."
  • "She was generous enough to overlook my little mistake."

  • "We could not afford to overlook such a serious offence."
  • Companies are so busy analyzing the financial implications that they overlook the effect on workers."


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