for

/fɔr/10 verbs

A target, a purpose, or a substitution.

FOR marks the thing you want or seek: look for, ask for, wait for, hope for. It is almost always inseparable — the object cannot come between the verb and FOR.

A distinct sense is deception: fall for something means you were taken in by it.

What it does to the sound

FOR is a function word and reduces to /fɚ/ in connected speech — look for it is “loo-kfrit”. Giving it a full /ɔr/ vowel is a reliable sign of over-careful reading rather than natural speech.

What FOR means

Seeking — the thing you want

FOR introduces the target of the search or request.

look forask forwait forsearch forhope for

Substitution — in place of

You act on someone else's behalf.

fill in forstand in forspeak for

Being deceived

You accept something false as true.

fall for go for

Every verb that takes FOR

The complete list — 10 of them. The section above groups the common ones by what FOR is doing.

The particle FOR — what it does to a verb