Passionate FOR or ABOUT? Which is correct?

Vocabulary / By

We use “passionate about” to show the topic that we have a great interest/feeling for.  “Passionate about” is correct in almost all contexts so it is best to stick with “about” when you use the adjective “passionate”.

The word “passionate” is used to describe an intense feeling toward something that is usually an interest like politics or football.

Passionate About

We use the preposition “about” with verbs and adjectives when we want to introduce a topic. 

Examples:

I am passionate about economics.

He is passionate about politics.

Notice that we usually use “passionate” with the topic in general and rarely use it for something specific(though it is still possible).

Example:

I am passionate about football.(About football in general)

I love playing football in the evening.(More specific)

All the following combinations are possible(but rare) but only when prepositions are used to connect two parts of a sentence and not a dependent preposition like “passionate about”.

Passionate With

It is unlikely to use “passionate with” in English. 

I am passionate with my work.

I am passionate about my work.

“Passionate with” is not used in romantic situations.

Passionate For

“Passionate for” is also rare in English. The only instance I can think of using it is when you are passionate ”on someone’s behalf”.

I think I feel passionate for you now.

Passionate In

The only time you would use “in” with “passionate” is when you need “in” with the part that comes after “passionate”.

He was passionate in many different ways. 

Passionate Of

It is unlikely to use “passionate of” in English. I can’t think of any context where it makes sense.  

Final thoughts

We always use “passionate about” when we are describing an area of interest. There are situations when you don’t need to use “about” such as when you just want to describe a person in general and don’t mention the subject matter(He is a passionate person). 

Conor
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