I have just seen this sentence “Das Kind sucht nach seiner Mutter” which means “The child is looking for its mother”.
Why do we use “nach” here and not “für”?
Why do we use “nach” here and not “für”?
Nach instead of für
RexV
June 2, 2019
Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor
June 24, 2019
Hallo RexV,
This is one of those instances where it's simply a matter of different languages working differently from each other, even if certain words sound similar or tend to be used similarly between them. In German, man sucht nach etwas - one looks nach something, instead of für. It's just one of those quirks that you have to keep in mind.
Note that you can also use suchen without nach: man sucht etwas "one looks (for) something." (These two forms are essentially interchangeable - just remember suchen + accusative and suchen nach + dative.)
I hope that this is helpful!
Bis zum nächsten Mal,
Liss
This is one of those instances where it's simply a matter of different languages working differently from each other, even if certain words sound similar or tend to be used similarly between them. In German, man sucht nach etwas - one looks nach something, instead of für. It's just one of those quirks that you have to keep in mind.
Note that you can also use suchen without nach: man sucht etwas "one looks (for) something." (These two forms are essentially interchangeable - just remember suchen + accusative and suchen nach + dative.)
I hope that this is helpful!
Bis zum nächsten Mal,
Liss