Verb "grope"

[Bassim]

I have tried to use "grope" in my sentences. I am wondering if they sound natural. Would you please correct my mistakes?

1. Dana felt her life had reached a dead end. From the moment she woke in the morning, she would grope for a way out.
2. Hannah was tipsy, and when she went into her house, she spent a long time groping for a light switch.
3. The forest was dark and threatening, and the man groped his way through it filled with apprehension.
4. The policeman asked the woman about the assailant, but she seemed to be in a chock, groping for words and stuttering.

 

[emsr2d2]

2, 3 and 4 work for me. 1 doesn't.

Note that in 4, you should have written "she seemed to be in shock​".

 

[Bassim]

I am wondering if I could use "search for " instead of "grope"?
From the moment she woke in the morning, she would search for a way out.

 

[emsr2d2]

I prefer "search for" to "grope for". You could use "seek" or "look for" too.

 

[Tarheel]

Try:

she seemed to be in shock

OR

she seemed to be in a state of shock

 

[Rover_KE]

Click here to read how other people use 'grope'.

Bookmark the site for future reference.

 

[Bassim]

Rover_KE,

Thank you for the link, but my problem is that I still do not know the subtle difference between synonyms. You who are native speakers of English can almost automatically decide if the word is suitable or not, but I who are not native speaker have to learn it by using it dozens or more times in different contexts. For example, I believed that I could use "grope" in my first sentence, but apparently it does not function well. "emsr2d2 could immediately spot the mistake, within a second, while I have to ask myself before I even start to write the word if it is going to function well or not.

 

[Matthew Wai]

emsr2d2 could immediately spot the mistake, within a second

I think you could have done the same if you had referred to the following definition: 'to try to find something that you cannot see by feeling with your hands'── quoted from www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/grope_1

Do you think Dana would use her hands in #1?

 

[Bassim]

Matthew Wai,
"Grope" can be used in dozens of different contexts. If you look up in a dictionary all the time you will never be able to write an interesting and beautiful texts. Novel or poems without metaphors or similes are bland and boring. They are almost dead. It is the beauty of language which make people remember a good novel or a poem. Dictionary can only give you a guidance, but you have to use your senses if you want to play with the words and create a beautiful text.

 

[Matthew Wai]

If you look up in a dictionary all the time you will never be able to write an interesting and beautiful texts.

You might have to make many mistakes before you are able to do so.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think you could have done the same if you had referred to the following definition: 'to try to find something that you cannot see by feeling with your hands'── quoted from www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/grope_1

Do you think Dana would use her hands in #1?

That helps in some situations but, as shown by "groping" being OK in sentence 4, it doesn't have to have anything to do with using your hands. We frequently say that people are "groping for the right words". It's not used literally in that phrase.