Chase down / chase

Question

Hello, teachers there. How are you? I have a question about usage of "chase down" and chase". I know that there are huge meaning differences in adding adverbs behind verbs, but sometimes I feel like there is not much difference between them.

So could you tell me if there is a meaning difference between the two sentences?

Too many people are chasing too few jobs nowadays.

Too many people are chasing down too few jobs nowadays.

And would you think that adding adverbs behind verbs always makes differences?

Thank you as usual and have a good day.

Enoon · Accepted Answer

Too many people are chasing too few jobs nowadays. This is right.

Too many people are chasing down too few jobs nowadays. This is wrong. To chase something down is to get it.

You are talking about phrasal verbs. Without thinking too hard about it, I would say yes, they are always different from the bare verb.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

Kwang Hee HanToo many people are chasing too few jobs nowadays.

Too many people are chasing down too few jobs nowadays.

Whether with or without "down" being used, both are not very idiomatic, nor semantically cohesive with the "job " context. I think what you meant is more close to " So many people are competing for too few jobs..." .
But It is possible to say: Police was chasing the bank robber at over 90 miles per hour on the highway for nearly a hour.

Enoon · Answer

dimsumexpressWhether with or without "down" being used, both are not very idiomatic, nor semantically cohesive with the "job " context. I think what you meant is more close to " So many people are competing for too few jobs..." .But It is possible to say: Police was chasing the bank robber at over 90 miles per hour on the highway for nearly a hour.

Umm... no. Dimsumexpress needs to consider longer before posting.

The idea of chasing is established in popular economics. For example, inflation is commonly defined as too many dollars chasing too few goods.

It is not possible to say police was chasing anything. You would have to say the police were chasing whatever.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

enoonIt is not possible to say police was chasing anything.

@enoon
Ok, Thanks. I slipped on the police, and I stand corrected. I should have used " highway patrol " next time. The damned police always gives me trouble! I shall watch for "the police" more carefully.

Wikipediahas an article on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police

Usage notes

Formerly a singular noun, police (#1) is now almost always used as a collective noun with a plural verb, as in "Run, the police are coming!"

enooninflation is commonly defined as too many dollars chasing too few goods.

That aside, my point was not about the economic application or definition of "chase". Please allow me to ask this question. When was the last time, you heard someone say " Too many people are chasing down the same job?" That's the perspective my comments were based on. We often hear people make references about boys "chasing girls" and "cops chasing robbers". This type of context always suggests an inference of one running away while the other in pursuit. That's being said, "jobs" don't seem to fit this definition, at least not to my interpretation. But, I understand "chase" can be used metaphorically with an entirely different meaning. That's where I was coming from. .
Chase rainbows : to waste your time trying to get or achieve something impossible.

Enoon · Answer

dimsumexpressWhen was the last time, you heard someone say " Too many people are chasing down the same job?"

I already said that that is not right. They chase the jobs, they don't chase them down.

You said they were not idiomatic. They are. It's just that "chase down" is a wrong word. You also said they were not "semantically cohesive with the 'job' context". Your terminology is strange to me, but I think I demonstrated context, and you even more with the apropos "chasing rainbows". If you think of the job as being like the hole an electron fills in a semiconductor, with you the electron, the job moves. And I have heard the collocation "chasing jobs" many times. It seems unremarkable.

Citing Wikipedia is not a good way at all to get on my good side, by the way.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

enoonCiting Wikipedia is not a good way at all to get on my good side, by the way.

Well! In that case, I should add, I have no need to get on anybody's good side. I hardly know you. I think you thought too highly of yourself.

enoonIf you think of the job as being like the hole an electron fills in a semiconductor, with you the electron, the job moves.

Talking about being strange, I don't see the connection. If you try to impress the audience, that's fine. Just so that you know I am not blowing hot air, I have been working as an electo-mechanical engineer in the semiconductor industry, with a discipline in electronics, for 15 years. Electrons don't fill holes in semiconductors. By the intrinsic nature of physics, electrons move (or flow) because of difference of electrical potentials, and they take the bath with the least resistance. Semiconductors are manufactured on silicon substrates, and they are chemically doped either positively or negatively in a temperature controlled chamber to provide a bias to allow or shut off the electrons flow through a circuit, not fill. I commonly heard of pursuing a career or a position, but rarely chasing a job in this neck of the woods. Apparently, we see things differently, or should I say interpret the usage differently. So I'd just leave it at that.

Enoon · Answer

dimsumexpressElectrons don't fill holes in semiconductors.

Yes, they do.

Every time I catch you posting bad English, I will call you on it. If you don't like that, don't post bad English. You screwed up. Admit it, apologize, and move on. No hard feelings from this end. I don't know you, either, and I've learned that it's too easy to get unpleasant on the Internet. Pax.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

enoondimsumexpressElectrons don't fill holes in semiconductors.Yes, they do.

Fine, if that pleases you. Bad English! Are you suggesting your English is perfect? I have never claimed to possess teacher level English, but I feel pretty good about my English in general.

enoonEvery time I catch you posting bad English,

I don't like confrontations but I have no problem speaking my mind. What academic credentials do you have to make that verdict? To be honest, I am not even sure if you are a native. Going back to your other postings, your English isn't really perfect either under a fine comb. We all slip every now and then, even teachers have different approaches toward a question sometimes. But it is really pointless and it serves the forum no benefits to keep going this direction.

Enoon · Answer

dimsumexpressWhat academic credentials do you have to make that verdict?

I've got a Mastur's from Bates and a PdQ from the S. of H.K. Wudda you got?

Dimsumexpress · Answer

enoonI've got a Mastur's from Bates and a PdQ from the S. of H.K. Wudda you got?

That pretty much shows who you are. I thought I would give you the benefit of the doubt. I am sure your family will be so proud of you! Case closed!

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