Meaning & use
care of
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
Used in an address before the name of the person at whose home or office a letter is to be delivered to someone else.
Grammar: Comes before the host's name: Mr Lee, care of Mrs Brown.
Patterns
- someone, care of someone
Send the package to Anna Lee, care of the Hotel Aurora.
He wrote to her care of her publisher.
While he was abroad, his mail came to him care of his sister.
phrasefixed phrase
Looked after or handled by someone, often in the form take care of.
Grammar: Used after take or in the care of: in the care of a nurse.
Patterns
- in the care of someone
The children were left in the care of their grandmother.
She is currently in the care of the local hospital.
Common combinations
- care of the hotel
- Please send my letters care of the hotel until Friday.
- in the care of
- The kitten is now in the care of a vet.
- mail care of
- You can mail it care of my office.
- c/o address
- Her c/o address is her uncle's house.
Synonyms and how they differ
- c/o
- C/o is just the written abbreviation, used in addresses and rarely spoken.
- at the address of
- At the address of is a plain wording that does not signal a temporary arrangement as care of does.
- through
- Through can show that a message is forwarded, but it is less specific than care of for addresses.
Word family
Commonly confused: care of or take care of?
care of vs take care of
Take care of means look after or deal with something, while care of in an address is used only for mail.
Practice
Which is the correct use of care of in an address?
Choose one answer.
The addressee comes first, then care of and the host's name. The other options scramble that order.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “care of”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.