# account for

CEFR B2 · Phrasal verb

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/account-for
Updated: 2026-04-24

## Definition

to explain the reason for something or to be the cause of a specific amount.

For teachers: to provide an explanation or justification for a situation; also used to denote the proportion or percentage of a total that a specific part represents.

## Examples

- The bad weather accounts for the delay.
- Small businesses account for more than half of the new jobs created in this city.
- The CFO was asked to account for the discrepancy between the projected earnings and the actual quarterly revenue.

## Pitfalls

- Not "The rain accounts the accident." but "The rain accounts for the accident." — the preposition 'for' is mandatory to link the verb to the cause or reason.

## Usage notes

- usually followed by a noun phrase representing a cause, a reason, or a numerical value.
- Teaching tip: distinguish between the 'explain' sense and the 'percentage' sense; the latter is very common in academic writing and data description tasks.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.