He’s coming closer.
re / r continue to befuddle me. When do you use se rapprocher vs s’approcher? What is the nuance between Il s’approche vs Il se rapproche?
I have had similar question for chercher vs rechercher when they both mean “to search” without the meaning of “doing it again.” I have googled and have not been able to find definitive explanation, so I am turning to the CM community. Thank you in advance for sharing your insights.
He’s coming closer.
I hope someone answers this. I’m confused also.
I was writing a long reply to more or less say that one is more about physically proximity while the other can also have some sense of emotional proximity, but in the process of looking for examples, I realized that I might use both in both areas, without really being sure of why exactly (languages, man, they are complicated ¯\ (ツ) /¯).
So, I’ll only say, that, unfortunately, yes, there is some degree of nuance separating them, but I wouldn’t be able to put it in words.
As for the re/r. Yes, usually it implies repetition, and you won’t be wrong in expressing repetition by adding re/r at the beginning, but the other way around isn’t always the case. Not all re/r mean that something was repeated. Rapprocher is one of them, and
Finally, regarding, chercher / rechercher: also, not necessarily about repetition. It can mean that you are looking for something again (like them keys, that you lost for the third time this morning, precisely when you are in rush. “Je suis en train de rechercher les clefs / de chercher les clefs à nouveau; je ne sais plus où les ai posées”). But more frequently is about looking for information on a subject. Just like search and research (and, anecdotally, research comes from rechercher)