call on VS call for

IMHO-both are correct and meets is a proper tense

"Called for" is correct.... meaning that the Nobel laureate is making a request.

"Called on" is synonymous with "visited" and doesn't make sense in this case.

Both of these choices are past tense, so tense isn't an issue.

Today, the president called on Congress to pass his immigration bill...
does that make sense??..my valued friend

Hey panzade... that was completely uncalled for

But yeah... you are right.

Hi, Could I know if you both are native speakers of English? (I ask this out of curiosity, and with all due respect.

This qeustion is from my textbook of College English, and the answer is A. I used to think Both A and B are correct, so I posted it here to see...


Thanks for your responses!

I am a native speaker.... and an fairly educated one. (I am pretty sure that panzade is as well).

I think your textbook is incorrect-- at the very least, they are both correct. I prefer "called for" in this sentence.

I would like to know if there is any explanation in your textbook, or if your teacher can explain what's wrong with "called for".

I'm a native speaker, and I'd say both are correct, with slightly different shades of meaning. "Called on scientists" has more the sense of an appeal directly to scientists--it might be something you'd say to describe the guy giving a speech at the National Academy of Sciences. "Called for scientists" has more the sense of a general goal, perhaps something you might address to a general audience in an op-ed column in the Wall Street Journal, say, whose audience isn't primarily scientists. It might be something you'd use to describe a speech given to a Congressional subcommittee deciding the budget for federal research in the coming year.

I studied Spanish as a second language (and after many years I am very near fluent).

My teachers had similar disagreements. I think nuances of prepositional phrases that are difficult even for native speakers are common in any language.

No, no explanation was given in my textbook. (And sadly, no explanation was given on this by my college English teacher. They only use such sentences to catch us OUT


Thanks for your answers! They really help!

Best Regards!
Blues