investigate what it is vs investigate what they do

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'Investigate what it is' is used when you want to find out the nature or identity of something, while 'investigate what they do' is used when you want to understand the actions or behaviors of a group of people or things.

Last updated: March 17, 2024 • 654 views

investigate what it is

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English when you want to find out the nature or identity of something.

This phrase is used when you are trying to understand the essence or characteristics of something. It implies a deeper examination or analysis.

Examples:

We need to investigate what it is that is causing the issue.
The scientists are trying to investigate what it is that makes this plant grow so fast.

Show examples from the web [+]

Project Information Literacy (PIL) has conducted six studies since 2008 to investigate what it is like to be a college student in the digital age. Survey and ...
No-one has ever penetrated Earth's mantle to reach the core to investigate what it is made of so much of what we "know" is theory based on intelligent deduction.
I am not proposing to set forth the arguments which issue in the belief of these doctrines, but to investigate what it is to believe in them, what the mind does, what ...
Thus, we investigate what it is that people choose to study. However, it is also necessary to investigate whether what they choose to study is advantageous or ...

Alternatives:

examine its nature
explore its identity
look into its essence
analyze its characteristics
determine its true form

investigate what they do

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English when you want to understand the actions or behaviors of a group of people or things.

This phrase is used when you are trying to study or analyze the activities or behaviors of a specific group of individuals or objects.

Examples:

The researchers are going to investigate what they do in their daily lives.
We need to investigate what they do to improve their performance.

Show examples from the web [+]

To understand the methods, we need to investigate what they do, what are their functions? Since certain things are compatible and others are not, certain states ...
Let's investigate what they do. Get your “My Job” worksheet. Zoo First, visit the Microbe Zoo to learn about bacteria. Next, learn about fungi. Go to the Fun Facts ...
Let's investigate what they do. Get your “My Job” worksheet. Zoo First, visit the Microbe Zoo to learn about bacteria. Next, learn about fungi. Go to the Fun Facts ...
Jul 14, 2015 ... Find your dream customers on social and investigate what they do. Is there a hashtag that's particularly popular? How about phrases you think ...

Alternatives:

study their actions
analyze their behaviors
examine their activities
explore their conduct
look into their operations

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023

investigate what it is vs investigate what they do