English Dictionary
Definition afford in British English
afford
verb
What are red words?
Around 90% of spoken and written English relies on just 7,500 common words.
These words are highlighted in red and are ranked using a star system.
- One-star words are commonly used
- Two-star words are even more common
- Three-star words are the most frequently used
[transitive]
verb
What are red words?
Around 90% of spoken and written English relies on just 7,500 common words.These words are highlighted in red and are ranked using a star system.
- One-star words are commonly used
- Two-star words are even more common
- Three-star words are the most frequently used
Afford is never followed by a verb in the -ing form. Use an infinitive:
✗ What about people who cannot afford going to these kind of centres?
✓ What about people who cannot afford to go to these kind of centres?
✗ The army can afford buying up to 10 tanks a year.
✓ The army can afford to buy up to 10 tanks a year.
if you can afford something you can do it without having to worry about it causing problems for you. This word always follows 'can', 'could', or 'be able to'
Scientists are going abroad, taking with them skills that our country can ill afford (=cannot afford) to lose.
No politician can afford to ignore the power of television.
to provide something
The vaccination also affords protection against polio.
