give a glimpse of vs. give a glimpse at

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi, is there any difference between ‘to give a glimpse of’ and ‘to give a glimpse at’ other than the former is much more popular than the latter?

Many thanks,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, talks: Leaving a voice message reporting a lost wallet[YSaerTTEW443543]

2

Hi Torsten,
The explanation looks reasonable to me:

"I found in a book that you must use “quick look” instead of “give a glimpse”.

“I wouldn’t use “give” because it implies a deliberateness that “glimpse” doesn’t justify. A glimpse is very, very brief - it’s just a very fleeting look or view and the word “give” simply sounds too deliberate/planned. You would use ‘take a glimpse’ of something if the subject is the one looking.
You would ‘give a glimpse’ of something to someone else who is looking.
I let him read my writings to give him a glimpse of what goes on in my mind.
I took a glimpse at what he wrote to see what was going on in his mind.”

3
  1. The tapes give a glimpse of how terrorists carried attacks against America.
  2. This magazine offers a glimpse at the problem’s severity.
  3. In his writings he gives a glimpse at daily life during the war-II at London.
    Are these sentences OK?
4

Beeesneees,
Could you please comment on these sentences?

5

I can’t agree with that if it’s meant as a universal statement. I don’t see anything inherently wrong with “give a glimpse”.

6

I agree with Dozy. “Giving a look” and “giving a glimpse” are two different concepts.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, talks: A theater is introducing a play[YSaerTTEW443543]

7

Rely on your sense on the subject completely, Dozy. Still idle paging through dictionaties revealed the following:
glimpse
intr usually foll by at (mainly US) to look (at) briefly or cursorily; glance (at) /Collins/
to see someone or something for a moment without getting a complete view of them [= catch sight of] /Longman/
glimpse a look at somebody/something for a very short time, when you do not see the person or thing completely to have/get/take a look/glance/glimpse oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries … ry/glimpse
The BNC’s only example on ‘give a glimpse’ is ‘give a glimpse through’
Looks like ‘give a glimpse at’ is not what you’d call a trendy phrase, with ‘glimpse at’ preferrable as more dynamic/to the point.

8

Various prepositions are possible in “give a glimpse … something”. My guess is that “of” is the most common. When that dictionary says “usually foll by at (mainly US)”, it is talking only about the intransitive verb. In “give a glimpse” the word “glimpse” is of course a noun.

Well, they have different meanings of course. Sometimes the emphasis/structure requires the subject to be person or thing or circumstance that reveals something or enables the visibility of something. However, I would agree that “give a glimpse” is not exactly what you would call a very common expression.

9

Mr: Torsten thank you very much.
You always send us messages.
Really , you love English and you love to see people getting better in their English.

10

To give a glimpse at something when you have un overview about it as a whole
To give a glimpse of something when you have un overview about a part of it.
Isn’t,t it?

11

I don’t see such a distinction.

However, I’ve only just noticed/realised that some people use “give a glimpse at” with the person glimpsing as the subject (e.g. “He gave a glimpse at the car that was following him”). This sounds alien to me. Previously I’d been assuming it was supposed to be an alternative to “give a glimpse of”, with the subject being the thing that revealed or made visible. It may be that the textbook Eugene referred to above was talking about the former use (saying it should be avoided). Some of my previous comments in this thread may need to be revised in the light of this.