L'IDÉE À RETENIR

To pointe vers une destination ou un destinataire. For pointe vers un but ou un bénéficiaire. Les verbes de don montrent les deux à la fois.

Illustration aquarelle de deux amis discutant autour d'un café ensoleillé
Un peu de contexte éclaire le sens.

01to: direction and recipients

Use to for movement toward a destination — go to school, fly to Tokyo — and for the recipient of giving, sending, and saying: give it to me, send the file to her, explain it to the team. Picture an arrow leaving you and landing on someone or somewhere.

She walked to the station in ten minutes.

to + destination

She walked to the station in ten minutes.

The station is where the movement ends.

02for: purpose and benefit

Use for for purpose and benefit: this gift is for you, a tool for cutting, study English for work. Durations belong here too: stay for two hours, lived there for years. If you can insert in order to or on behalf of, for is usually right.

This present is for you.

for + beneficiary

This present is for you.

You benefit from the gift, so use for.

03Giving shows both at once

Compare the classic pair: I bought flowers for my mother — she benefits. I gave the flowers to my mother — she receives. Buying serves her interests; giving moves the object into her hands. Many sentences need both: buy it for her, then give it to her.

Then memorize the fixed adjectives: married to, engaged to, similar to, used to — but responsible for, famous for, ready for, late for. These pairings never follow the general rule by logic alone; store each adjective with its partner as one chunk.

She is responsible for the new project.

responsible for + task

She is responsible for the new project.

Responsible always pairs with for.

04One verb trap: suggest

Explain takes to — explain it to me — but suggest never takes a person with to. Say suggest a restaurant, suggest going early, or suggest that we leave. Writing suggest to me is a classic exam error: when in doubt, give suggest a thing or an idea, never a recipient.

À VOUS

Faites le lien.

Lisez la situation avant de choisir. Le pourquoi compte autant que la réponse.

Your sister benefits from the purchase.
MINI-TEST 1

I bought a dictionary ? my sister.

Your sister benefits from the purchase.

Choisissez une préposition. Découvrez le pourquoi.

Voir la réponse

for · Beneficiaries take for.

You are the recipient of the photos.
MINI-TEST 2

Please send the photos ? me tonight.

You are the recipient of the photos.

Choisissez une préposition. Découvrez le pourquoi.

Voir la réponse

to · Recipients of sending take to.

Pour aller plus loin

Nous créons ces exemples avec l'aide de l'IA. L'usage dépend du contexte ; ces schémas ne couvrent pas tout. Poursuivez avec les références.

Notre méthode · Suggérer une correction

Un peu de répétition. Un lien plus fort.

Poursuivez avec des exercices ciblés et la révision des erreurs dans l'appli.

Découvrir PrepoQuest