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I have seen a non-native English speaker write "Still seeking for a job". That got me thinking, what is the difference between to seek and look for?

RegDwigнt
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Maxim V. Pavlov
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    You do realize "seeking for" isn't grammatical, right? – Frantisek Aug 27 '12 at 10:31
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    "To seek" and "to look for" are exact synonyms. No difference. But I think you realise that you shouldn't use "for" after "seek". –  Aug 27 '12 at 10:33
  • I didn't know that, but wouldn't use it that way either due to "gut feeling". I am still more interested in the difference between two verbs though. – Maxim V. Pavlov Aug 27 '12 at 10:33
  • @David, if verbs are synonyms, why one can't seek for something? – Maxim V. Pavlov Aug 27 '12 at 10:34
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    @David Wallace: Hmm. The OED has 104 citations that include 'seek for'. – Barrie England Aug 27 '12 at 10:46
  • @BarrieEngland Hah! Of course it does! I had better retract my last comment then. –  Aug 27 '12 at 11:18
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    @Barrie: I haven't bothered to look at the 104 citations (yet), but I still agree with David in that seek for does sound "off" in some contexts, like "still seeking for a job." (Now, I might say, "I'll seek for awhile, and if I haven't found anything by tomorrow...") – J.R. Aug 28 '12 at 09:53
  • @J.R.It certainly isn’t common. 64 records in the COCA against 1557 for ‘look for’, with equivalent figures of 30 and 2192 in the BNC! But I always question 'shouldn't'. – Barrie England Aug 28 '12 at 10:10

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I regard them as synonyms. However, there is a lexical difference. 'Seek' is a pure verb and 'look for' is a phrasal verb - a pure verb plus, in this case, a preposition. Phrasal verbs carry an idiomatic meaning and are more typical in spoken or informal usage.

A similar pair might be 'discover' and 'find out' - but we would never think to transfer the preposition from the phrasal verb and use it with the pure verb - 'discover out'.

Vince
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    Actually, look for is not a phrasal verb like look up, but rather a transitivizing preposition like look at or listen to. The difference is that transitive phrasal verbs alternate NP objects, but not transitivizing verbs: He looked up the word, He looked the word up, He looked for the word, but not *He looked the word for. – John Lawler Dec 03 '22 at 19:39
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Perhaps the applicant is using a telephone to seek employment?

This would be considered seeking but not literally looking.

In a non-literal sense, "looking for" is synonymous with "sniffing out" but I don't think you can use that to argue that these terms are synonymous in every other context in which one of them might be used.

Logically, seeking encompasses a greater variety of methods and senses than does looking.

RedGrittyBrick
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The general difference in usage is "seek" is used for something untangible whereas "look for" is used for something concrete.

phoebe
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  • Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Community Dec 03 '22 at 13:26
  • Hello, phoebe. I suppose some would regard the Scarlet Pimpernel as intangible. But Job 30:26 (NKJV) reads :'But when I looked for good, evil came to me' [BibleHub]. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 03 '22 at 16:45