A crush is an intense but usually short-lived infatuation, and also the person you feel it for — the one you can't stop thinking about. People often talk about a crush with a bit of self-deprecating humour. Have a crush on someone is an informal expression: natural with friends and in a spoken story about yourself, but in an essay or formal text, write romantic feelings for someone instead.
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have/get a crush on + person; my crush
- I've had a crush on my classmate since the first week.
- She admitted she still has a tiny crush on her old neighbour.
- Everyone in the group chat knows who your crush is by now.
What changed
First versionI think I have a crush to the new coworker.
RevisionI think I have a crush on the new coworker.
In this meaning, crush needs the preposition on: a crush on someone. To feels logical by analogy with other words about feelings toward someone, but it doesn't combine with crush. The same goes for the verb: she's crushing on him.
A crush is an infatuation, often secret and short-lived — not a deep feeling and not a relationship. For a serious feeling, people say be in love: I had a crush on him at school, but I was never in love with him. If a couple is actually together, the person is called a boyfriend or girlfriend, not a crush.
Your turn
She keeps talking about the guy from her yoga class — I think she has a crush ___ him.
Show the answer
on — She keeps talking about the guy from yoga, which signals an infatuation, and crush needs on: a crush on him. To might feel logical, but that's simply not how the expression works in English.
Describe a crush you have on someone — real or a joke. Say who it is and where you see them (studies, work, neighbours).
I have a huge crush on the barista at the coffee shop near my office.
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