Meaning & use
cater to someone
Last updated
Meanings
verbintransitive
To provide what a particular person or group needs, wants or enjoys.
Grammar: Needs the preposition to before the person: the hotel caters to business travelers. No direct object.
Patterns
- cater to someone
- cater to someone's needs
The restaurant caters to vegetarians with a full separate menu.
Our school caters to children with different learning styles.
The hotel caters mainly to business travelers.
verbintransitivedisapproving
To satisfy someone's demands or tastes too readily, often by giving in to what they want.
Grammar: Same pattern, but the tone is critical: stop catering to his every demand.
Patterns
- cater to someone's whims
- cater to someone's demands
Some parents cater to their children's every whim.
The film caters to the crowd's worst instincts.
He refuses to cater to difficult customers.
Word forms
| third person singular | caters to someone |
|---|---|
| past tense | catered to someone |
| past participle | catered to someone |
| present participle | catering to someone |
Common combinations
- cater to tourists
- Many shops here cater to tourists.
- cater to demand
- The company expanded to cater to demand.
- cater to a market
- The brand caters to a niche market.
- cater to every whim
- Staff cater to every whim of the celebrity guests.
- cater to special needs
- The program caters to special needs students.
Synonyms and how they differ
- serve
- Serve is neutral and wider, while cater to emphasizes meeting the specific needs of one group.
- accommodate
- Accommodate suggests making room or adjustments for someone, with less stress on pleasing their preferences.
- indulge
- Indulge always suggests giving too much, whereas cater to can be neutral.
- pander to
- Pander to is clearly negative and means pleasing someone's worst tastes to win favor.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: cater to someone or cater for?
cater to someone vs cater for
In British English cater for is also common and means almost the same. Cater to is more common in American English.
Practice
Which preposition completes the sentence? 'The gym caters ___ people who work night shifts.'
Choose one answer.
Cater to is the fixed pattern meaning to provide for a group. With, at and on do not form this phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cater to someone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.