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* I want to speak to him about my problem. * It's perfect for those who refuse to give up love of boating.
I guess, it's wrong if it's said :
* I want to speak for him about my problem. * It's perfect to those who refuse to give up love of boating.
- When can I use "to" and "for" ?
This is a tricky one because to and for have so many uses. My dictionary has 17 entries under the preposition to. That’s far too many to have a simple rule.
In general, to is suggestive of direction or movement whereas for refers to purpose or intent. Think of to as concrete and for as abstract. This is, however, not an absolute rule as to can sometimes imply purpose.
In their most common uses:
“Give this book to Billy” means “Take this book in the physical direction of Billy and place it in his hands.”
Whereas:
“This book is for Billy” means “The intended purpose of this book is to be read by Billy.”
For can also mean on behalf of. For example:
“I want to speak to Billy” means “I want to speak in Billy’s direction.”
Whereas:
“I want to speak for Billy” means “As Billy is not here (or incapable of speaking for himself), I want to speak on his behalf.”
Regarding your example, you use for correctly, but the sentence is confusing for other reasons.
“It’s perfect for [relating to purpose] those who refuse to give up love of boating.”
I don’t know what “those who refuse to give up love of boating” means. At the very least it should be “those who refuse to give up their love of boating.” Why not simply “It’s perfect for those who enjoy boating” or “perfect for avid boaters”?
It’s an odd construction because “refuse” is negative, “love” is positive, and boating is relatively harmless. For this construction to make sense, boating would have to be dangerous or otherwise negative. For example: “Electronic cigarettes are perfect for those who refuse to give up their love of nicotine.”
to" is directional. "He went to his neighbor's house."
"into" is the locational. "He went into his neighbor's house."
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Yes, because perfect indicates completion of an event. So when you said "his neighbor had traveled that morning," it implies the event was completed. In other words, "his neighbor had traveled that morning, but was now at home." The action was completed before Jim reached his house.
To show that his neighbor was absent, you need to use progressive (e.g. "in progress"):
"he remembered that his neighbor was traveling that morning." The action was in progress while Jim was at his house.
You can mix simple past with perfect and progressive, because "perfect" and "progressive" aren't technically tenses in English, they are "aspect." They show the how a verb is carried out, or "distributed," through time. In other words, the tense will tell you whether the action happened in the past, present, or future, and aspect tells you whether it is continuing (progressive) or completed (perfect).
One thing to watch is that you keep your main verbs and auxiliary/helper verbs consistent. If you use simple past in the first clause (When he arrived), you must use the past tense auxiliary verb in the second clause (he discovered his neighbor was traveling."
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The key is that we need to know whether the neighbor was traveling when Jim arrived, or had completed traveling when Jim arrived.
It was a convincing clarification.
Thanks a lot.
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Your sentence was constructed correctly "He was running quickly...," but progressive aspect is inappropriate for the context, so I switched it to simple past. With progressive, there is an expectation that something will happen while he is running (in progress), but the action occurred after he reached the neighbor's house. So, you could have used past perfect, "He had run quickly to his neighbor's house for help, when he remembered his neighbor was traveling that morning," but not past progressive.
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We call this figmalt's poor editing skills. I should have written "he remembered..."
You know, I was looking forward to know this new tense for me before writing your reply.
I've never thought that Figmalt could make a mistake!
If that's poor editing skills, I hope that I would have thing of figmalt's poor editing skills
This is a tricky one because to and for have so many uses. My dictionary has 17 entries under the preposition to. That’s far too many to have a simple rule.
In general, to is suggestive of direction or movement whereas for refers to purpose or intent. Think of to as concrete and for as abstract. This is, however, not an absolute rule as to can sometimes imply purpose.
In their most common uses:
“Give this book to Billy†means “Take this book in the physical direction of Billy and place it in his hands.â€
Whereas:
“This book is for Billy†means “The intended purpose of this book is to be read by Billy.â€
For can also mean on behalf of. For example:
“I want to speak to Billy†means “I want to speak in Billy’s direction.â€
Clear!
Quote:
Whereas:
“I want to speak for Billy†means “As Billy is not here (or incapable of speaking for himself), I want to speak on his behalf.â€
This adding is new for me. Thanks.
Quote:
Regarding your example, you use for correctly, but the sentence is confusing for other reasons.
“It’s perfect for [relating to purpose] those who refuse to give up love of boating.â€
I don’t know what “those who refuse to give up love of boating†means. At the very least it should be “those who refuse to give up their love of boating.†Why not simply “It’s perfect for those who enjoy boating†or “perfect for avid boaters�
It’s an odd construction because “refuse†is negative, “love†is positive, and boating is relatively harmless. For this construction to make sense, boating would have to be dangerous or otherwise negative. For example: “Electronic cigarettes are perfect for those who refuse to give up their love of nicotine.â€
You're right ! I should have put all the text, not just a part, to make it more clear.
I realize how this topic is important and difficult at the same time.
Phrasal verbs are too many in English, I've heard a specialist in the English said,The English language based on phrasal verbs, you can't understand English if you didn't understand Phrasal verbs.
* The difficult thing in phrasal verbs is not only in the listening but in the meaning,too
As we know,
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phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and a preposition, a verb and an adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a prepositionwikipedia.org
In addition, There are tow kinds of Phrasal Verbs:
1- Separable
2-Inseparable
So, I need to keep and distinguish between them.
main verbs like " read- write-go-eat-drink-put-sleep- .......etc "
It's easier than Phrasal Verbs because. They are simple to remember the meaning . Each verb is only one word. So,If I can't understand the meaning of any verb of them, just I need to put it in Electronic Dictionary Then, I will find it and understand the meaning easily.
But the situation is different in Phrasal verbs.
Phrasal verb is combined of more than one word and all of them together are considered " verb"
So, when I can't understand the meaning of any phrasal verb and put it in an electronic dictionary. It will deal with each word as independent word.
There for I will get a strange or funny meaning. At the end, it's not correct.
That means, I need to keep all the phrasal verbs and its meanings.
When I want to try keep phrasal verbs still I have a problem because, many phrasal verbs have more than one using like 3 uses or more !!
EX:
I've read this examples from " kruharn.com".
Pass something out :
* The professor passed the textbooks out before class.
Pass out :
* It was so hot in the church that an elderly lady passed out.
pass away:
*His uncle passed away last night after a long illness
- How can I remember all of them? -How can I distinguish between which preposition or adverb should be used? - Do you have a simple way for help me to remember them easier ?
I know that I should also read, listen and do more practices in that grammar.
For phrasal verbs, Google is a better tool than an electronic dictionary. If you really want a dictionary that covers phrasal verbs you have to use the full version of the Oxford English Dictionary, otherwise know as the OED (Home : Oxford English Dictionary). It’s very expensive ($295 a year for an online subscription).
The difficulty with phrasal verbs is that most are idiomatic. Merriam-webster.com defines idiom as:
an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either grammatically or in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements
Phrasal verb are closer to poetry than grammar. They are beyond the literal meaning of the words used.
To compound the problem, phrasal verbs change with geography and culture. Speakers in the US and the UK may have a different meaning for the same phrasal verb. It’s particularly complex in countries where English is widely spoken but not the primary language, like Singapore.
There’s no quick-and-easy way of learning phrasal verbs. As their meaning is not derived from the literal meaning of the words, they have no rules. I have a friend who learned to speak perfect English by watching American soap operas. It’s the best way to hear everyday (if somewhat banal) English spoken clearly.
Regarding the word passed, here’s an example of how verbs change, become phrases, and revert to words again.
“Passed away” has long been a euphemism for “died.” It sounds gentler, especially if someone dies in bed of natural causes. It also alludes to the Bible: Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew 24:35)
I was speaking to my mother a few weeks ago and she said, “Uncle so-and-so passed.” I had never heard her use that construction before. Saying “passed” is even gentler and more euphemistic than “passed away.” The phrase “passed away” can mean “disappeared” whereas the simple verb “passed” can mean “go someplace else.”
and Thanks so much tpk-nyc, It's really useful websites.
God bless u
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I was speaking to my mother a few weeks ago and she said, “Uncle so-and-so passed.” I had never heard her use that construction before. Saying “passed” is even gentler and more euphemistic than “passed away.” The phrase “passed away” can mean “disappeared” whereas the simple verb “passed” can mean “go someplace else.”
First example: neither. I would use "on" to refer to the Internet, and while you could refer to looking at something in a book, talking about reading books would use neither 'in', 'by' or 'on'.
So your first question could be phrased a few ways:
"Which do you prefer: reading a book, or reading on the Internet?"
"Which do you prefer: reading a book, or reading online?"
"Which way do you prefer to read - books, or the Internet?
For the second example, 'in' is correct, but you have to adjust the verb for your singular subject:
"Alan wants to write in English."
Your original verb would be used for plural subjects:
First example: neither. I would use "on" to refer to the Internet, and while you could refer to looking at something in a book, talking about reading books would use neither 'in', 'by' or 'on'.
So your first question could be phrased a few ways:
"Which do you prefer: reading a book, or reading on the Internet?"
"Which do you prefer: reading a book, or reading online?"
"Which way do you prefer to read - books, or the Internet?
For the second example, 'in' is correct, but you have to adjust the verb for your singular subject:
"Alan wants to write in English."
Your original verb would be used for plural subjects:
"Many people want to write in English."
Clear!
Thank u very much Rob Allen.
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I should have written "he remembered..."
Phrasal Verbs
