LoginSeek vs. Search
While both 'seek' and 'search' mean to look for somebody or something, 'search' implies a higher level of care and is used in wider variety of contexts while 'seek' is mainly used for non-physical concepts. This lesson will clarify the differences between these two verbs.
Difference in Scope
'Seek' typically implies an effort to find or obtain something. It is often used when talking about looking for non-physical or intangible entities such as a job, information, or assistance, and is commonly used in contexts involving personal, professional, or spiritual pursuits. 'Search', however, has a wider scope of usage and can involve the act of looking carefully for something tangible or intangible, often with the intention of finding or locating it. It emphasizes the process of examining or exploring multiple sources, areas, or possibilities to find what is being sought. Here are some examples:
The organization is
He went to the library to
He went to the library to
'Search' can be used instead of 'seek' as it is a more general term and applies to intangible as well as tangible entities.
I need to
'You cannot use 'seek' instead of 'search' in this sentence as 'seek' is only used for intangible concepts.
Grammatical Difference
'Seek' is always transitive and takes a noun phrase that signifies the thing that is looked for as its object. 'Search', however, can be transitive or intransitive. In its transitive use, it can take a thing/person or a place as its object. In the former case, it needs a prepositional phrase with 'for' as its object, while in the latter, a noun phrase that refers to the place within which something is assumed to be serves as its object. Take a look at some examples:
He's been
'Seek' is always transitive and takes a noun phrase as its object
I
'Search' as an intransitive verb.
The archaeologists are
'search' as a transitive verb with a prepositional phrase as its object. In this structure the object is the thing that is looked for.
The police
'search' as a transitive verb with a noun phrase as its object. In this structure, the object is the place that is being explored in order to find something inside it.
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