Afford Work I Verb əˈfɔːd əˈfɔːrd Car Ticket

• 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.
• we can't afford to go abroad this summer.

afford

Verb Forms

1. to have enough money to be able to buy or do 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.
• 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.
• He couldn't afford the money to go on the trip.

Extra Examples

• I couldn't possibly afford to eat in that restaurant.
• We can afford to go to Miami this year.
2. 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
• We cannot afford to ignore this warning.
• 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.
• She felt she couldn't afford any more time off work.
• We cannot afford any more delays.
3. to provide somebody with something
• The tree affords some shelter from the sun.
• The legislation aims to afford protection to employees.
• 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.

Word Origin

• late 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’.