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Can you crave for a college? Or any other object like a book or a movie? I am using the word crave to show the strong need for a college. Is it grammatically correct?

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    It's not exactly idiomatic but sure, why not? Probably healthier than craving for some other things! :-)
    – Kristina Lopez
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 15:47
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    Generally in English one craves something, rather than craving for it. If you want to use for, you can use a nominalization: I have a craving for chocolate. To have a craving means to crave permanently, just like to have an infirmity means to be sick permanently.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 15:56
  • @JohnLawler, I've never heard that to have a craving is permanent, like an infirmity. If you satisfy the craving, it goes away...although maybe just temporarily! :-)
    – Kristina Lopez
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 16:08
  • It at least goes on for a while, though perhaps not to the end of life. The point is that the construction with have lengthens the scope of the emotion. There's a similar ambiguity in expressing any emotion -- is it temporary or will it last? Hard to tell, especially for other people.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 16:11
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    To have a craving for is to desire to indulge (eg a curry; chocolate) or perhaps to possess. How does this work with a college?
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 20:56

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Saying "I crave for this movie" is not correct and would not be used by native modern English speakers. This is because the verb "crave" takes a direct object, not a prepositional phrase.

It's confusing because you can say "I have a craving for this movie". But in that case, "craving" is a noun and so it does not take a direct object, and a preposition is necessary.

Bad English:

  • I crave for college
  • I am craving for college

Good English:

  • I crave college (or I crave seeing my favorite movie)
  • I am craving college (or I am craving seeing my favorite movie)
  • I have a craving for college (or I have a craving for seeing my favorite movie).
  • [formal/out of date] I long for college (or I long to see my favorite movie).
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  • While I agree "crave for something" is bad English and sounds completely non-idiomatic to me, it is indeed used by some native speakers. "I craved for France, and with twenty pounds in my pocket I went to Paris, got an office boy's job in a photographic firm and then became a traveler in the glue and shellac trade." From the introduction to At Home and Abroad by V. S. Pritchett
    – Eddie Kal
    Commented Aug 26, 2020 at 23:28

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