Catching vs searching

Question

1) Michael gets a call from Benson. They both discuss on the phone about the catching of thieves.

2) Michael gets a call from Benson. They both discuss on the phone about the searching of thieves.

Context: Michael and Benson are cops. Recently, robbery has happened. They yet to find the thief identity who is behind this robbery.

Which is correct? If neither of them are correct then please reply the correct one.

GPY · Accepted Answer

While we "talk about something", "ask about something", and so on, we do not "discuss about something". We just "discuss something".

"both" is not necessary.

"on the phone" is not necessary, given the first sentence.

"the catching of thieves" is not very natural there.

"the searching of thieves" would mean looking for items that thieves have on their person (e.g. in their pockets or hidden in their clothes). Probably you mean "the searching for thieves", i.e. trying to find the thieves, but, like "the catching of thieves", it is not very natural.

When you say "catching of / searching for thieves", it sounds as if you are talking about thieves in general. If you mean the particular thieves responsible for the robbery, you need "the thieves", but the phrases would not be any more natural in this sentence even with that change.

There are many things that you can say instead. This is just one suggestion:

Michael gets a call from Benson. They discuss how they will go about catching the thieves.

Catching vs searching

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