Look after means to take care of someone, such as a child, an animal or a sick person, or to keep something safe. You can say it about yourself too: look after yourself means take care of yourself and your health.
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look after + person/pet/thing; look after yourself; looked after (past)
- My neighbour looks after our cat when we go on holiday.
- Could you look after my bag for a minute while I buy a ticket?
- My grandmother looked after me every summer while my parents were at work.
What changed
First versionWho will look for the children while we are at the theatre?
RevisionWho will look after the children while we are at the theatre?
Because the phrase starts with look, learners sometimes choose look for or look at. But look for means to search for something, and look at means to direct your eyes at it. When you mean caring for someone or keeping an eye on them, use look after.
In the sense of caring for someone, take care of is almost interchangeable with look after: look after a child, take care of a child. But when you mean dealing with a task or paying for something, people usually say take care of: I'll take care of the bill.
Your turn
My sister is flying to Rome for a week, and I'm going to ___ her dog.
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look after — The sister is going away for a week and the dog needs someone to care for it, so look after is right. Look for means to search: you would use it if the dog had got lost.
Write who cares for your children, pet or home when you are away. Say in what situation this happens and for how long.
When I travel for work, my mother looks after my two cats for three or four days.
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