cannot afford

Meanings

1. 1phrasefixed phrase

   To not have enough money to pay for something.

   Grammar: Takes a noun object or to + verb: cannot afford a house; cannot afford to buy a house.

   Patterns

   • cannot afford something
   • cannot afford to do something

   We cannot afford a bigger apartment this year.

   She cannot afford to travel abroad right now.

   Many families cannot afford health insurance.

2. 2phrasefixed phrase

   To be unable to do something without risk or bad results.

   Grammar: Used with to + verb: cannot afford to miss the deadline means missing it would be a serious problem.

   Patterns

   • cannot afford to do something
   • cannot afford to be late

   You cannot afford to ignore the warning signs.

   The team cannot afford to lose another game.

   He cannot afford to waste any more time.

Common combinations

cannot afford to lose

The company cannot afford to lose its biggest customer.

cannot afford the luxury of

With so little time, we cannot afford the luxury of long meetings.

cannot afford to wait

The city cannot afford to wait any longer for repairs.

cannot afford to miss

Students cannot afford to miss this review session.

Synonyms and how they differ

be unable to pay for

This is more neutral and formal; cannot afford is the everyday phrase for money problems.

not have the money for

This focuses only on money, while cannot afford can also mean not able to risk something.

Opposites

Word family

afford verb

To have enough money or time for something.

affordable adjective

Cheap enough that most people can pay for it.

affordability noun

How cheap or easy something is for people to pay for.

Commonly confused: cannot afford or can't afford?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “cannot afford”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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