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Difference Between "to" and "for" | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Monox D. I-Fly Senior Member Indonesia monoxdifly.iopc.us Joined 5133 days ago 762 posts - 664 votes  Speaks: Indonesian* | Message 1 of 8 15 March 2015 at 2:07am | IP Logged | ||
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My friend who is also interested in learning many languages asked me what is the difference usage of "to" and "for" in English if both are followed by a pronoun. I was confused, then explained that they are a bit similar, equivalent to "pada" and "untuk" in our language (Indonesian). Can anyone help me explain the difference to him? Edited by Monox D. I-Fly on 15 March 2015 at 2:19am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7203 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 2 of 8 15 March 2015 at 3:05am | IP Logged | ||
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Two represents this many:
XX Four represents this many: XXXX 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| robarb Nonaglot Senior Member United States languagenpluson Joined 5057 days ago 361 posts - 921 votes Speaks: Portuguese, English*, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, French Studies: Mandarin, Danish, Russian, Norwegian, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Greek, Latin, Nepali, Modern Hebrew | Message 3 of 8 15 March 2015 at 5:12am | IP Logged | ||
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The core meaning of "to" is that the pronoun is the (indirect) object or recipient of the action.
"Alice sent a letter to Bob" --> I expect that Bob received this letter. The core meaning of "for" is that the pronoun is the source of the purpose of the action. "Alice sent a letter for Bob" --> I don't expect that Bob received this letter, but I do expect that he cares that it was sent. Sometimes, when the relationship between the action and the person is abstract or unclear, we use "for" or "to" grammatically or perhaps metaphorically to express the relation. Three things can happen: 1."It doesn't matter for me" and "It doesn't matter to me" are both possible and mean the same thing. 2. "Vegetables are good for you" is acceptable, but "*Vegetables are good to you" is wrong. 3. "Does this look OK to you?" is acceptable, but "*Does this look OK for you" is wrong. I don't think it's possible to predict which of (1,2,3) apply for any given word/phrase. Edited by robarb on 15 March 2015 at 5:12am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6595 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 4 of 8 15 March 2015 at 7:35am | IP Logged | ||
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"to" can also be more similar to "ke" than "untuk".
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Monox D. I-Fly Senior Member Indonesia monoxdifly.iopc.us Joined 5133 days ago 762 posts - 664 votes Speaks: Indonesian* | Message 5 of 8 15 March 2015 at 8:22am | IP Logged | ||
Oh yeah, you learn Indonesian, right? But what I am talking about now is that both of them a followed by a pronoun. So, the common translation of "to" in this context will be "pada". By the way, can yoy explain what have you learnt about "ke", "pada", & "untuk"? Maybe it can help me understand about this a bit. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4288 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 6 of 8 15 March 2015 at 8:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think that, "It is okay for you" sounds fine, but needs a specific context. For
example, if I cooked a special dinner for someone I could ask the person, "Is this [the food] okay for you [your needs/preferences]?", meaning, based on what the person sees, if they like what I cooked. I think that most of the time they both can be used, but differ on meaning. Even native speakers, if they say that they go on feel on how to use it, the rules can usually be derived, like "working backwards" in a mathematical proof given the result and trying to find the reasoning therebehind. I would recommend a detailed grammar manual and reading the prepositions section. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| chaotic_thought Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 3540 days ago 129 posts - 274 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Dutch, French | Message 7 of 8 16 March 2015 at 12:44am | IP Logged | ||
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"to" and "for" can both also mark verb phrase actions. Typical examples with "to + inf":
- It's not okay to smoke in this room. - We need more money to buy this car. Typical with "for + xxx-ing": - That room is for smoking. - That money is for buying the car. EDIT: With (pro)nouns (I think mainly in the form "for/to + person") "to" and "for" can be used to show that person's opinion or perspective on something. As robarb mentioned it's not easy to say which one "to" or "for" is best for a given situation. - Mary finds the soup excellent. To John it's just water with salt. - Lunch is the most important meal of the day for Carla. For me, it's breakfast. Edited by chaotic_thought on 16 March 2015 at 12:53am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3905 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 8 of 8 17 March 2015 at 2:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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This is a bit of an informal explanation (plus I'm sick so forgive me if there are some holes in it):
To is used (in this sense) when there is a receiver of an action and the action is physical (not all the time, though). It also shows the direction of the action. Answers "to whom" or "where". Examples: I will send the letter to her. I am driving to his house. I'm going to my mother's work. (notice how you could observe me physically performing these actions) For is used to show intent, focus or reason. Answers "for whom" or "why"/"for what reason". Examples: I made dinner for her. I bought the hat for my mother. I took him out to lunch for his birthday. (notice how these explain why I made dinner, bought the hat, etc.) Examples with both: -I sent the letter to my mother for my father. To whom did I physically send the letter? My mother. Why did I send it? Because my father wanted me to. -We all went out to the bar for her birthday. Where did we go? The bar. Why/for what reason? Because it was her birthday. -I ran to the store for some milk. Where did I run? The store. Why/for what reason? Milk. Keep in mind, English infinitives are always paired with "to" (to run, to sleep, to jump, etc). So here, you would use "to" to explain "why" or "for what reason" you are doing something. -I went to the kitchen to eat some food. Where? To the kitchen. Why/for what reason? To eat. -I'm going to the library to finish studying. Where? To the library. Why/for what reason? To finish (studying). You asked specifically for cases where a noun/pronoun follows, but I figure I should explain when a verb follows to clear up any future confusion. I hope this helps. 4 persons have voted this message useful |
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