I see the above two phrases used interchangeably.
Google n-gram viewer prefers "sought solace".
Are they both correct?
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1Can you give some example sentences that you wonder about?– MitchCommented Jun 10, 2013 at 12:37
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@ artfullyContrived: I don't know where you got that used interchangeably idea from. I just Googled "sought for solace". The top result is this actual question, followed by a page seeking parents to sign up for a program called "Solace for the Children". The next 6 results are all duplicates of the same barely-literate blog page from 2006, followed by a couple of book citations from the early 1800s.– FumbleFingersCommented Jun 10, 2013 at 15:40
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1 Answer
Seek (p.p. sought) means attempt to find, and that phrase can be directly substituted. Find does not take for.
ODO doesn't make any mention of for — the formatting of that entry is a bit complex to reproduce here — but it does include the synonym ask for/look for, which is where any confusion might arise.
ask for (something) from someone: "he sought help from the police"
However all their examples which use seek do not have any particle or preposition. Seek does not take for.
answered Jun 10, 2013 at 11:45
