When learning English, understanding how to use adjectives and nouns correctly can be tricky. A common confusion arises with sentences like ‘He looks embarrassed’ versus ‘He looks embarrassment.’ In this article, we’ll break down why ‘embarrassed’ is used in the first sentence, and why ‘embarrassment’ would not be appropriate in this context.
Adjectives vs. Nouns: The Key Difference
The main issue lies in the difference between adjectives and nouns. In the sentence ‘He looks embarrassed,’ the word ‘embarrassed’ is an adjective, which describes how someone feels. When we use ‘look’ in this context, we are talking about the appearance or state of the person, so an adjective is needed to describe their emotional state.
On the other hand, ‘embarrassment’ is a noun, which refers to the feeling or state of being embarrassed. While ‘embarrassment’ could be used in a sentence like ‘He felt embarrassment,’ it cannot describe someone’s appearance in the same way ‘embarrassed’ can.
Correct Usage: ‘He Looks Embarrassed’
In English, we often use ‘look’ followed by an adjective to describe someone’s emotional or physical state. For example, ‘He looks tired’ or ‘She looks happy.’ In the case of ‘embarrassed,’ this adjective describes the person’s current emotional state or appearance. It tells us that the person is experiencing the feeling of embarrassment at that moment.
The verb ‘look’ in these sentences indicates that we are commenting on someone’s state based on their appearance. Therefore, ‘embarrassed’ fits perfectly as it describes the temporary condition of the person, while ‘embarrassment’ does not work because it refers to the emotion or state itself, not how it looks.
Why ‘He Looks Embarrassment’ is Incorrect
The sentence ‘He looks embarrassment’ is incorrect because ‘embarrassment’ is a noun and does not function to describe someone’s appearance. We use adjectives after ‘look’ to express how someone appears, and nouns cannot serve this purpose. ‘Embarrassment’ would be grammatically correct in a sentence like ‘He felt embarrassment,’ but it cannot describe how someone looks.
To summarize, the sentence ‘He looks embarrassed’ is correct because ‘embarrassed’ is an adjective that describes the person’s emotional state, whereas ‘embarrassment’ is a noun that would not describe appearance. The structure ‘look + adjective’ is essential for describing a person’s state in this context.
Example Sentence: George Looked ( ) When I Asked Him to Sing
For the sentence ‘George looked ( ) when I asked him to sing,’ the correct word to fill the blank would be ‘embarrassed.’ This is because George’s emotional state (feeling embarrassed) is being described as a reaction to being asked to sing.
The sentence could be completed as: ‘George looked embarrassed when I asked him to sing.’ This shows that George felt a certain way in response to the situation, and ‘embarrassed’ is the adjective that correctly describes his state.
Conclusion
Understanding the difference between adjectives and nouns is key to using English correctly. In the case of ‘He looks embarrassed,’ ‘embarrassed’ is the correct adjective to describe a person’s emotional state. ‘Embarrassment,’ on the other hand, is a noun and cannot be used to describe someone’s appearance. By learning to use adjectives after ‘look,’ you can express emotional states accurately and naturally in English.
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