Meaning & use
tend
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To usually do something or usually be a certain way.
Grammar: Followed by to and an infinitive: she tends to arrive early.
Patterns
- tend to do something
Prices tend to rise in the summer.
He tends to talk quickly when he is nervous.
Old houses tend to be cold in winter.
verbtransitive
To look after a person, animal, plant, or fire and give it the care it needs.
Grammar: Takes an object: she tends the garden each morning.
Patterns
- tend something
- tend to something
She spends her evenings tending the vegetable garden.
The nurse tended the wounded soldier.
Shepherds tended their flocks on the hillside.
verbintransitiveformal
To give attention to something that needs doing, usually followed by to.
Grammar: No direct object; followed by to: tend to the guests.
Patterns
- tend to someone
- tend to something
Please tend to the customers while I answer the phone.
He left the meeting to tend to an urgent matter.
The staff tended to the guests' needs quickly.
Word forms
| third person singular | tends |
|---|---|
| past tense | tended |
| past participle | tended |
| -ing form | tending |
Common combinations
- tend to forget
- I tend to forget names.
- tend to be
- Teenagers tend to be night owls.
- tend the sick
- The nurses tended the sick through the night.
- tend a garden
- He tends the garden every weekend.
- tend to the needs of
- She tended to the needs of her elderly mother.
- tend a fire
- Someone must tend the fire all night.
Synonyms and how they differ
- be inclined
- Be inclined to is a little more formal and suggests a personal leaning, whereas tend describes a general habit.
- usually
- Usually is an adverb that says how often something happens, while tend is a verb that is followed by an infinitive.
- look after
- Look after is the everyday phrasal verb for caring for someone, while tend sounds more formal or literary.
- nurse
- Nurse, in the caring sense, is often used for sick people or plants and suggests care over a long time.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: tend or attend? tend or intend?
tend vs attend
Attend usually means to be present at an event, as in attend a meeting. Tend means to have a habit, or to look after something.
tend vs intend
Intend means to plan to do something, while tend describes what usually happens.
Practice
People who live near the sea ___ to have a mild climate all year.
Choose one answer.
Tend to means usually be or do. Attend, intend, and extend look similar but cannot be followed by 'to have' in this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tend”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.