The roles of coordinating ligands (TOPO, OA, HDA, and TDPA) for the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles are investigated. Various shapes (hexagonal cone, hexagonal plate, and rod) and sizes (5-100 nm) of ZnO nanoparticles are prepared in relation to the coordinating ligands. The hexagonal shapes ($leq$ 100 nm) are synthesized with TOPO and OA, while smaller size nanorods (5 ${ imes}$ 30 nm) are with TOPO and TDPA. The relative intensities of two distinctive emission bands centered at 385 and 500 nm, which are related to the exciton and defect states, respectively, depend on the crystal qualities of ZnO nanoparticles affected by the coordinating ligands. The intense UV emissions with the reduced visible emissions are found in the monodisperse nanoparticles such as hexagonal cones and nanorods, suggesting that the monodispersity as well as the crystallinity is closely related to the coordinating ligands. The blue-shift of photoluminescence and absorption edge is observed in the nanorods, because the sizes of the nanorods are in the quantum confinement regime.