Nach instead of für

RexV

RexV

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”?
 
Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor

Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor

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 nachman 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

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