for

CEFRA1

/fɔː/

preposition

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    preposition

    Used to show purpose, benefit, duration, or support.

  2. 02

    preposition

    Extra detail

    Leading towards in time or circumstance.

Examples

  • I can only wonder if this is the same for everyone else.

  • You must be able to speak French for this job.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • /foː/

Deep Dive

preposition

Extra meanings

  1. Towards; in the direction of.

  2. Directed at; intended to belong to.

  3. In order to help, benefit, gratify, honor etc. (someone or something).

More examples

In context

  • I'm at a loss for words.

  • I had to stay with my wicked stepmother, for I had nowhere else to go.

  • The astronauts headed for the moon.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

We bought a beautiful gift blank our mother to celebrate her fifty-first birthday.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

preposition

Inherited from Middle English for, from Old English for (“for, because of”), from Proto-Germanic *furi (“for”), from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-. Cognate with West Frisian foar (“for”), Dutch voor (“for”), German für (“for”), Danish for (“for”), Swedish för (“for”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk for (“for”), Icelandic fyrir (“for”), Latin per (“by, through, for, by means of”) and Romance language descendants (e.g. Spanish por (“for”)), Ancient Greek περί (perí, “for, about, toward”), Lithuanian per (“by, through, during”), Slovak pre (“for”), Sanskrit परि (pári, “over, around”).