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Sesquipedalian101 Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

In Searching For Vs In Search Of

I found the following sentence in a novel that I am now reading:

1. "...he remarked complacently, and took an extraordinary number of papers and envelopes from his pocket in searching for the right one."

I should have written "in search of" instead of "in searching for". However, because the writer is Graham Greece, I suppose he must be right in his choice of that prepositional phrase. Could someone explain to me how "in searching for" could be right too?

Thank you for your help.
  

Top answer

Does this make more sense? "

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4 Answers
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Does this make more sense?

.. took an extraordinary number of papers and envelopes from his pocket in (the process of) searching for the right one."
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AlpheccaStars Does this make more sense?.. took an extraordinary number of papers and envelopes from his pocket in (the process of) searching for the right one."
Thank you very much, AlpheccaStars. Appreciate it. You're helpful. I am curious, AlpheccaStars: if I have to explain to someone the grammaticality of the original string, how do I parse the sentence?
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...he (subject) remarked (verb) complacently (adverb), and (conjunction, compound verb) took (verb) an extraordinary number (noun phrase, complement of the verb "took") of (preposition) papers and envelopes (noun phrase, complement of the preposition "of") from (preposition) his pocket (noun phrase, com
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AlpheccaStars, thank you very much for your time and help. You're, indeed, very kindly. Appreciate it.

I am looking at the prepositional phrase in question --- "in searching for". When I am ready with another question concerning that, I shall come back to you here.

Thank you again, AlpheccaStars.

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