Call for means to demand something publicly: people and organisations call for change. The second meaning is to need or require something, when the subject is the situation itself: This job calls for patience. That's where the casual This calls for a celebration! comes from: “We have to celebrate this!”
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call for + noun (change/action/help); call for sb to + verb; sth calls for + quality (patience/courage); This calls for a celebration!
- Parents are calling for safer crossings near the school after two accidents this year.
- Working with small children calls for a lot of patience and a good sense of humour.
- You passed your driving test first time? This calls for a celebration!
What changed
First versionDoctors call to stricter rules on selling energy drinks to teenagers.
RevisionDoctors call for stricter rules on selling energy drinks to teenagers.
To can look like the right preposition after call, but call to + noun isn't used for a demand in English. A demand is introduced with for: call for stricter rules. If you're urging someone to do something, say call on: Doctors call on parents to check the labels.
Call for doesn't mean “phone someone”. To phone is simply call: I'll call you tonight. And in British English, I'll call for you at seven means “I'll come and pick you up at seven”: here call means visit, not dial a number.
Your turn
You've finally got the job you wanted? This ___ a celebration!
Show the answer
calls for — News about the job is a reason to celebrate, so it requires a celebration, and that sense of “require” is expressed by calls for. Call on means to urge someone or to visit them, and it needs a person after it, not a celebration.
Write about a situation that called for a particular quality from you. Name the situation and the quality.
Moving to a new city on my own called for a lot of courage, but it was the best decision I've made.
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