A. Look

• I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience. [at end of formal letter]
• The police are looking into the matter. [investigating]
• They need to look at all the evidence before reaching a decision. [examine]
• She looks down on anyone she thinks is inferior to her. [despises; opp look up to = admire]
• It’s hard to be positive but do try to look on the bright side. [be optimistic]

B. See

• Sue tries to see about/to arrangements for the conference at least a year ahead. [deal with]
• We all went to see Jana off at the airport. [accompany someone who is leaving]
• It didn’t take Tom long to see through her. [understand she was trying to deceive]
• That can’t be Hamid. He’s in Paris this week. I must be seeing things. [imagining it]

C. Run

• I ran into an old friend yesterday – I had no idea she was in town. [met by chance]
• Her patience has run out and she has told him she won’t help him any more. [come to an end]
• We’ve run out of milk. [there is none left]
• Let’s run over the plans again to make sure we’ve thought of everything. [quickly go through]
• Things may be hard now but it’ll be worth it in the long run. [in the distant future]
• The trains have stopped running because of the avalanche. [operating]

D. Turn

• Everyone was very surprised when she turned down the promotion and explained that she was leaving the company. [rejected]
• Naoko turned up last night. I haven’t seen her for years! [appeared]
• I’m going to turn over a new leaf this year and answer all my letters the day I get them! [start doing something in a better way]
• The fire bell turned out to be a false alarm. [was discovered]

E. Let

• He has been let down so many times in the past – I hope he won’t be disappointed again.
• Don’t let go of the rope or she’ll fall and hurt herself.
• The accused was let off with a fine. [received a small punishment for a crime]
• When she let it slip that she had been given a pay rise, the other workers were very angry. [say something, sometimes without meaning to]

F. Break

• No one likes people who break their promises. [don’t do what they say they’ll do]
• The speaker broke off in the middle of a sentence. [suddenly stopped talking]
• I’m dreading breaking the news to him. He’s going to be very upset. [telling someone something]
• When he left her, he broke her heart. [made her very sad]
• The sprinter broke the record for the 100 metres. [ran faster than anyone had run before]