afford
part of speech
verb (afford, affords, afforded, affording) — usually with can, could, be able to
meaning for a pupil
1) To have enough money to pay for something (We can't afford a new car). tree →
2) To have enough time, space or energy for something (I can't afford to miss the bus). tree →
3) To be able to do something without bad results (We can't afford to make mistakes). tree →
4) (formal) To give or provide (The hill affords a fine view). tree →
sense in the lessons
Interpretation: Psalms teaches that horses and armies cannot save a person; tradition reads this as trust in God, not in military power. In the primary lessons: In maths and money lessons: «Can she afford it?» means compare what you have with the price — if money ≥ price, yes. Budgeting and saving teach that you can't afford everything you want. In everyday life families talk about what they can afford. Phrases: can afford, can't afford, afford to do, affordable (cheap enough).
examples
- A horse is a vain thing for safety; neither doth it afford escape by its great strength. (Writings PSA.33.17, JPS 1917) tree →
- Whose garners are full, affording all manner of store; whose sheep increase by thousands and ten thousands in our fields; (Writings PSA.144.13, JPS 1917) tree →
- I can afford the book because I saved $15 and it costs $12. tree →
- We can't afford a holiday this year. tree →
- Can you afford to buy lunch for both of us? tree →
- I can't afford to be late again. tree →
- Save your pocket money so you can afford the toy. tree →
- These shoes are affordable — they're on sale. tree →
- Sam has $8; can he afford a ticket that costs $10? No, he needs $2 more. tree →
- How can you afford to bring up the boy? tree →
note
Usually used with «can/can't, could, be able to». Maths: if the money you have is equal to or more than the price, you can afford it; the difference (price − money) is how much more you need. Adjective: affordable.
In the corpora
- A horse is a vain thing for safety; neither doth it afford escape by its great strength.
- Whose garners are full, affording all manner of store; whose sheep increase by thousands and ten thousands in our fields;
- Some people go to work ill because they can't afford to lose the pay, which spreads germs to everyone else.
- Debt becomes a problem when the repayments are more than the family can afford.
- Lending money to friends can cause arguments, so many grown-ups only lend what they could afford to lose.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «afford» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.