take care of / look after / care for

■ You can take care of or, especially in BrE, look after someone who is very young, very old, or sick, or something that needs keeping in good condition. 照看小孩、老人、病人或物品可用 take care of，英式英语尤用 look after：

◆ We’ve asked my mother to take care of/look after the kids while we’re away. 我们已请我母亲在我们外出时照看孩子。

◆ You can borrow my camera if you promise to take care of/look after it. 只要你答应把我的照相机保管好就可以借去用。

■ In more formal language you can also care for someone. 在较正式用语中，照看或照顾某人亦可用 care for：

◆ She does some voluntary work, caring for the elderly. 她干一些照顾老人的义务工作。

But care foris more monly used to mean ‘like’. 但 care for 较常用于表示喜欢：

◆ I don’t really care for spicy food. 我其实不喜欢吃辛辣食物。