Difference between “charge” and “charge for”

Question

I am a beginner in English. I see below excerpts that use charge and charge for. May it same or different mean?

Your advertisement only mentions charges for calls made outside business hours.

How much are customers on this plan charged for making calls during peak hours?

Finally, cell phone companies normally charge an upgrade or registration fee. Will HyperC0m charge me any extra fees if I upgrade to the OH-Peak Plan?

Answer 1

In this context, for is just a preposition that has the following senses:

[Merriam-Webster]
1 a —used as a function word to indicate purpose
// a grant for studying medicine
1 b —used as a function word to indicate an intended goal
// left for home
// acted for the best

---

When you mention a charge, you may or may not mention what it is comprised of.

1. I am going to charge you.
2. I am going to charge you $50.
3. There will be an extra charge.

When you use for, you indicate what the purpose of the charge is:

1. I am going to charge for my time.
2. I am going to charge you $50 for having it done in an hour.
3. There will be an extra charge for returning the item opened.

---

You do not always need to use for in order to communicate a purpose:

I will charge you $10 for shipping and handling.
→ I will charge you a $10 shipping and handling fee.

In both of those sentences, it's clear how much is being charged ($10) and the purpose of the charge (shipping and handling). They are just different ways of expressing the same thing. But note that the specific wording does change how the sentences are constructed.

---

Prepositions (like for) can often be left out of sentences without causing confusion:

I will charge you $10 shipping and handling.

This sentence is meaningful without a preposition. However, a preposition is understood to be there in theory, even if it's not actually stated. In this case, either for or in would work:

1. I will charge you $10 ^for shipping and handling.
2. I will charge you $10 ⁱⁿ shipping and handling.

There is a subtle difference between those two:

1. I will charge you $10 ^{in order to provide} shipping and handling.
2. I will charge you $10 ^{worth of} shipping and handling^fees.

However, most people never think about this grammatical distinction. All they care about is how much they are paying, and why they are paying it.

---

In short, think of for as just providing additional information on top of what charge on its own provides. But while this additional information can come from the use of for specifically, it can also be provided through different wording.