Is pay and pay for changeable on some occasions?

[aleaf]

Is pay and pay for changeable on some occasions?

For example in the sentence:
We have to pay a lot of welfare?=I have to pay for a lot of welfare?
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Try to change youself before you try to change others.

[Conchita]

'I have to pay for a lot of welfare' is what I'd say.

You pay for something you can get (for yourself or for someone else). Now, to obtain or buy something, you pay something: money, bills, taxes, fees, etc.