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Attend on someone vs Attend to someone

attend on someone

1. act as a servant; carry out smb.’s wishes:

  • A king would have as many as one hundred people attending on him.

2. give personal help to smb. (as a nurse, doctor, etc.):

  • Jane has been attending on her sick mother for years.

attend to someone

1. give one’s attention to smb.:

  • Attend to me, children, I shan’t repeat these instructions.

2. = attend on someone 2:

  • She was attending to her sick grandmother when her father came to the door.