Phrasal verb
pay for sth
Definition
phrasal verb. To give money in exchange for goods or a service.
phrasal verb. A transitive prepositional verb meaning to give money in exchange for a good or service. The object following 'for' is the item being purchased.
Examples
“I need to pay for my ticket.”
“She went to the counter to pay for her groceries before leaving the store.”
“The corporation was ultimately forced to pay for the environmental damage its factory had caused, a settlement that ran into the billions.”
Examples
simple
“I need to pay for my ticket.”
contextual
“She went to the counter to pay for her groceries before leaving the store.”
complex
“The corporation was ultimately forced to pay for the environmental damage its factory had caused, a settlement that ran into the billions.”
Usage
The object following 'for' is the thing you are buying.
Teaching tip
Contrast 'pay for something' (the item) with 'pay someone' (the recipient), e.g., 'I paid the cashier for the book'.
Pitfall
I paid the coffee.
I paid for the coffee.
The preposition 'for' is required when the object is the thing you are buying.
Phrasal verb
Particles
for
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
pay + for + object