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“People hold different views about certain issues. And we ought to seek common ground while allowing for/allowing differences.” Which one should I choose? Allow or allow for?

KKKKKevin
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    Does this answer your question? What's the difference between 'allow' and 'allow for'? – niamulbengali Jan 28 '21 at 05:47
  • I just read it. But I'm still confused about meanings of "allow for". This thread centers on the meaning of " make sth possible" and "enable". And I consulted Longman dictionary. "Allow for" has two meanings: 1. make sth possible or enable 2. make allowance for or take sth into consideration when you make a judgement or plan. The message i try to deliver is that we should seek common ground and at the same time respect our differences. So can "allow for" be used here? – KKKKKevin Jan 28 '21 at 06:18
  • Your problem is that "allow for" has two different meanings, and you want a specific meaning, but there's no way to control which meaning the reader takes (are you providing space for new differences to flourish, or taking existing differences into consideration?) You could use "allow for" but you maybe want to find a different word/phrase to avoid ambiguity. Also, there's another ambiguity in your question: there's a difference between respecting differences (not trying to eliminate them) and encouraging differences (trying to increase variety), which will affect what you can replace it with. – Stuart F Jan 28 '21 at 10:35
  • Thanks a lot. I got it. Here comes another question: which one should I choose? Allow or allow for? – KKKKKevin Jan 28 '21 at 10:53

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