Meaning & use
care for
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To look after someone who is young, old, sick, or unable to care for themselves.
Grammar: Takes an object: care for a child. The object usually comes after 'for'.
Patterns
- care for someone
- care for a patient
- care for the elderly
She cares for her elderly mother at home.
Nurses care for patients around the clock.
He gave up his job to care for his sick father.
verbtransitiveformal
To like or love someone or something, especially in a polite or formal way.
Grammar: Often used in questions and negatives: Do you care for jazz? I don't care for it.
Patterns
- care for someone
- care for something
- not care for something
Would you care for a cup of tea?
I don't really care for spicy food.
She cares for him deeply.
verbtransitiveformal
To want or wish to have something, used in polite offers.
Grammar: Used in questions with 'would': Would you care for...?
Patterns
- would care for something
- care for another drink
Would you care for another slice of cake?
Would you care for a walk after dinner?
He asked if she would care for some coffee.
Word forms
| third person singular | cares for |
|---|---|
| past tense | cared for |
| past participle | cared for |
| -ing form | caring for |
Common combinations
- care for someone
- It takes patience to care for a newborn baby.
- care for the elderly
- The charity trains volunteers to care for the elderly.
- care for a patient
- Doctors and nurses care for patients with different needs.
- not care for something
- I don't care for horror movies.
- would you care for
- Would you care for some dessert?
Synonyms and how they differ
- look after
- Look after is more common in everyday British English and is slightly less formal than care for.
- take care of
- Take care of is similar but often emphasizes responsibility and can also mean to deal with a task.
- nurse
- Nurse is more specific to caring for sick people, while care for is broader.
- like
- Like is the everyday word for enjoying something; care for is more formal and often used in negatives.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: care for or care about? care for or care to?
care for vs care about
Care about means to feel concern or interest in something, while care for often means to look after someone or to like something in a formal way.
care for vs care to
Care to is used in offers and suggestions, as in 'Would you care to join us?', while care for is followed by a noun or pronoun.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'care for' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Care for means to look after someone, so 'cares for her grandmother' is correct. Option 1 omits 'for', option 2 changes the meaning to feeling concern, and option 3 uses the wrong preposition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “care for”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.