Fond of means liking someone or something with warm affection. It is softer than love and often describes a feeling that has grown over time: I've grown fond of this city.
Want to remember fond of?
Write a sentence — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
be fond of + person/thing/-ing; grow fond of + person/place
- My grandmother was very fond of her old cat and talked to him every morning.
- I've grown quite fond of our tiny office, even though it has no windows.
- The children were fond of their new teacher from the very first week.
What changed
First versionI am fond of play chess.
RevisionI am fond of playing chess.
Of is a preposition, and after a preposition a verb takes the -ing form: fond of playing, not fond of play. In the corrected sentence, only the verb form has changed.
Fond of + -ing is grammatically correct, but in everyday speech people usually talk about hobbies with I really enjoy playing chess or I love reading. Fond of sounds more natural about people, places and things: I'm fond of my old car. With -ing, it often describes someone else's slightly annoying habit: He's fond of telling everyone how busy he is.
Your turn
My grandfather was very fond ___ his little garden and spent every evening there.
Show the answer
of — Fond only goes with of. On may seem right by analogy with keen on: the meanings are close, but these adjectives take different prepositions.
Write about an object you have become attached to. Name it and explain why it means a lot to you.
I'm very fond of my old leather bag because my father gave it to me when I started university.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.