0

Is there any difference between search online or online search or is only one of them correct?

Example sentence

He's been doing a search online for a while.

Improve this question
1
  • There aren't many contexts where He's been doing a search online for a while wouldn't be better expressed as He's been searching online for a while.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Mar 18 at 1:50

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
4

Cambridge Dictionary shows that online can be an adjective or an adverb.

adjective example: online banking/shopping
He's been doing an online search for a while.

adverb example: Do you like to shop online?
He's been doing a search online for a while.

Improve this answer
1

There are subtle differences in emphasis, when someone uses these expressions :

  1. "Search online" emphasizes the action of searching and specifies that the search is being conducted on the internet.

  2. "Online search"/“web search” emphasizes the location or medium of the search, indicating that it's being done via the internet. “Offline search” could mean searching from the books, articles, newspapers and other sources that do not involve the internet.

"Search on the internet" or “search on the web” is similar to "search online" but explicitly mentions the internet as the platform for searching.

Improve this answer
-1

"Search online" is a verb phrase. "Online search" is a noun phrase.

"I searched online for information about aardvarks."

"I did an online search for information about aardvarks."

"He's been doing a search online ..." is valid but not something fluent English speakers often say. Most would say, "He as been searching online ..." or "He has been doing an online search ..."

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .