He stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and
three-quarters. The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Harry
couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started
to get annoyed, as though Harry was being stupid on purpose. Getting
desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock,
but the guard said there wasn't one. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's
Stone)
In this context, I guess, ‘asked for’ seems to mean ‘asked about’ the train. But I’ve not found the usage yet. Would you let me know what the phrase exactly means in this case?
Best Answer
"asked for" differs slightly from "asked about".
"asked for" is a request not so much for information about the train, but is more a request for directions to it. Example: "He asked for the exit."
"asked about", while similar, could be used by someone out of idle curiousity who has no need of actually getting on the train. Indeed, "asked about" could refer to a request for information about the type of locomotive or number of carriages or what colour the paintwork is.