[Grammar] Verbal phrase- laugh at/look down upon

[Barman]

1) He laughs at me.

2) He looks down upon me.

In case of the above sentences, can the term 'verbal phrase' be used for group verbs 'laugh at', 'look down upon' respectively?

 

[PaulMatthews]

1) He laughs at me.

2) He looks down [STRIKE]upon[/STRIKE] on me.


I would avoid the term 'verbal phrase' (or 'phrasal verb'). It is misleading. In your examples it is not the whole expressions "laughs at" and "looks down on" that are verbs; it is just the words "laughs" and "looks".

"Laughs" is best called a prepositional verb, and "looks down on" a verbal idiom.

 

[Barman]

2) He looks down [STRIKE]upon[/STRIKE] on me.

But I found that 'look down upon' and 'look down on' are equally used.

 

[Rover_KE]

Where?

 

[teechar]

I don't think so, Barman. Take a look at this:
https://books.google.com/ngrams/gra...=t1;,look down on;,c0;.t1;,look down upon;,c0

 

[Barman]

I don't think so, Barman. Take a look at this:
https://books.google.com/ngrams/gra...=t1;,look down on;,c0;.t1;,look down upon;,c0

I understand. But don't they have the same meaning and usage?

Link: https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/look down%28 on or upon%29

 

[GoesStation]

I understand. But don't they have the same meaning and usage?

Look down upon would probably be understood as meaning the same as look down on. Since the former is not really used in modern English, their usage is obviously different: one is used and the other isn't.

 

[Barman]

Where?

To express one's hatred of someone.

 

[GoesStation]

To express one's hatred of someone.

Rover was asking where you "found that 'look down upon' and 'look down on' are equally used". Where did you see evidence of that?

 

[Barman]

Rover was asking where you "found that 'look down upon' and 'look down on' are equally used". Where did you see evidence of that?

I found it in the link provided in #6.