The difference between the two phrases is that both can be used in the literal sense (to look in the specified direction), "look to" and "look up to" also have a figurative meaning.
The literal meaning:
Look at that, Henry's taking his first steps!
Look to your left and your right before crossing the street!
Look up at the sky, it's Superman!
Look up to your right, there's a green bird at the very top of that tree!
In all of these sentences, "look [x]" is being used to mean "look in the direction specified." This is the literal meaning of the phrases.
However "look to" and "look up to" also have figurative meanings. You can say you "look to" someone to find answers or advice, for example:
In her first few weeks on the job, Monica often looked to her boss for guidance.
This doesn't mean that she literally looked at him, but that she went to him for advice when necessary.
"Look up to" also has a figurative meaning. To look up to someone is to see them as a role model, or to view their behavior as a higher standard which you would like to achieve.
Tommy had always looked up to his baseball coach. He was tough but fair, and taught the team a lot. Tommy had wanted to be just like his coach when he was a kid.
There is very little difference in meaning; they are usually just two different ways to express the same thing: someone performed the act of showering.
"She showered in the bathroom" could mean that she regularly or routinely showered in the bathroom; "She took a shower in the bathroom" means that she performed one act of showering in the bathroom.
Take a shower is slightly less formal than shower.
The construction "take a shower" uses take as what's called a light verb in English. A light verb is one that doesn't really carry any meaning by itself, but is used in conjunction with a noun to create a phrase that has meaning. Usually, the light verbs in English are do, take, make, or have.
For example,
- take a shower = shower
- take a walk = walk
- take a rest = rest
- have a smoke = smoke (a cigarette, pipe, etc.)
- do a trick = perform a trick
- make a mistake = do something that is an error
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Best Answer
No, they are different!
take a look is an idiom which means "to observe or examine someone or something."
On the other hand, looking at someone is merely an act of seeing someone. The purpose of the former one is different.
You look at some product as a normal physiological gesture but if you 'take a look' at the same product, you have a purpose to study/observe it.