afford
verb /əˈfɔːd/
/əˈfɔːrd/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they afford | /əˈfɔːd/ /əˈfɔːrd/ |
| he / she / it affords | /əˈfɔːdz/ /əˈfɔːrdz/ |
| past simple afforded | /əˈfɔːdɪd/ /əˈfɔːrdɪd/ |
| past participle afforded | /əˈfɔːdɪd/ /əˈfɔːrdɪd/ |
| -ing form affording | /əˈfɔːdɪŋ/ /əˈfɔːrdɪŋ/ |
- [no passive] (usually used with can, could or be able to, especially in negative sentences or questions) to have enough money to be able to buy or do something
- afford something Can we afford a new car?
- None of them could afford £50 for a ticket.
- I’d give up work if I could afford it.
- afford to do something We can't afford to go abroad this summer.
- She never took a taxi, even though she could afford to.
- She can well afford to pay for herself.
- They couldn't afford to buy a house there.
- We can't afford to have children.
- afford something to do something He couldn't afford the money to go on the trip.
Wordfinder- afford
- bank
- bankrupt
- capital
- economy
- expense
- finance
- invest
- money
- profit
Extra ExamplesTopics Shoppingb1- I couldn't possibly afford to eat in that restaurant.
- We can afford to go to Miami this year.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- easily
- well
- barely
- …
- be able to
- can
- be unable to
- …
- [no passive] (usually used with can or could, especially in negative sentences and questions) if you say that you can’t afford to do something, you mean that you should not do it because it will cause problems for you if you do
- afford to do something We cannot afford to ignore this warning.
- (formal) They could ill afford to lose any more staff.
- The people who suffer most are those who can least afford to lose.
- We simply can't afford to take any risks.
- afford something She felt she couldn't afford any more time off work.
- We cannot afford any more delays.
- (formal) to provide somebody with something
- afford something The tree affords some shelter from the sun.
- The legislation aims to afford protection to employees.
- afford somebody something Being a college professor affords you the opportunity simply to write and do research.
- The programme affords young people the chance to gain work experience.
More Like This Verbs usually followed by infinitivesVerbs usually followed by infinitives- afford
- agree
- appear
- arrange
- attempt
- beg
- choose
- consent
- decide
- expect
- fail
- happen
- hesitate
- hope
- intend
- learn
- manage
- mean
- neglect
- offer
- prepare
- pretend
- promise
- refuse
- swear
- try
- want
- wish
Word Originlate Old English geforthian, from ge- (prefix implying completeness) + forthian ‘to further’, from forth. The original sense was ‘promote, perform, accomplish’, later ‘manage, be in a position to do’.