Meaning & use
care about someone
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
to feel that someone is important to you and that you want good things for them.
Grammar: Followed by a person or pronoun: care about someone, care about her. For things or ideas, use care about something.
Patterns
- care about someone
- care about someone deeply
- really care about someone
- not care about someone
You can tell she cares about her students because she stays late to help them.
He says he cares about me, but he never calls or visits.
Good friends care about each other even when they disagree.
phrasefixed phrase
to be concerned about what happens to a particular person.
Grammar: Often used in questions and negatives to ask whether a person matters to someone: Do you care about him?
Patterns
- care about what happens to someone
- care about someone's feelings
- care about someone's future
She cares about what happens to the children in her old neighborhood.
Do you really care about his feelings, or are you just being polite?
Parents naturally care about their children's future.
Common combinations
- really care about someone
- I really care about my grandmother and visit her every weekend.
- care about someone deeply
- He cares about her deeply but finds it hard to say so.
- care about someone's feelings
- Please care about your brother's feelings before you joke about him.
- not care about someone
- It seems he doesn't care about anyone but himself.
Synonyms and how they differ
- love
- Love is much stronger and often romantic or family-based; care about can describe warm concern for a friend or colleague.
- be fond of
- This means you like someone in a gentle way; it says less about wanting good things for them than care about does.
- worry about
- Worry about focuses on fear that something bad may happen, while care about focuses on the value you place on the person.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: care about someone or care for someone? care about someone or take care of someone?
care about someone vs care for someone
Care for someone usually means to look after them or, in formal English, to love them; care about someone is about your feelings, not your duties.
care about someone vs take care of someone
This means to do the practical things someone needs, like feeding or helping them; it does not necessarily show emotional concern.
Practice
Which sentence means 'she feels that her brother is important to her'?
Choose one answer.
'Cares about' expresses emotional concern for the person. 'Takes care of' is about practical help, 'cares for' here is about looking after the dog, and 'is careful with' means she avoids harming him.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “care about someone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.