Prepositions "for" and "to"

Question

Which of the following would be the best sentence to use:

Some people use technology to search for information.

Some people use technology for searching information.

Answer 1

Some people use technology to search for information.

Some people use technology for searching information.

These two sentences don't mean the same thing. The first one is about searching for information, while the second is about searching information.

These two, on the other hand, mean the same thing:

Some people use technology to search for information.

Some people use technology for searching for information.

And so do these two (as each other - not as the above):

Some people use technology to search information.

Some people use technology for searching information.

The pair with "for information" are more usual.

The difference in meaning is as follows. When you search for X, you are trying to find that thing or those things. When you search X, you already know where X is, and you are trying to find something else within X.

Here is a concrete example. If you are searching for a book, you can't find the book and you are trying to find the book. If you searching a book (without for in front), you already have the book and you are trying to find something within the book.

In practice, "searching for information" and "searching information" often amount to the same thing - you have a vast amount of information or data, and you are searching for some specific information within the wider collection of information - so you are both searching information and searching for information.

If you are searching for a particular file on your disk, you are both searching your files and also searching for a file.

Generally, if in doubt (where either could be used), it is more idiomatic to say "search for".

Of these sentences:

Some people use technology to search for information.

Some people use technology for searching for information.

The first reads better, but both are correct.