Thursday, April 10, 2014

EXPRESSING PURPOSE: FOR OR TO?

For is commonly used with nouns to express individual purpose:
  • I stopped by at his office for a chat .
    (Not: I stopped by at his office for having a chat.)

  • I decided I would save up for a new computer.
    (NOT: I decided I would save up for buying a new computer.)
If we want to express individual purpose with a verb pattern, we are obliged to use to + infinitive:
  • I popped into his office to have a chat.

  • I decided to save up to buy a new computer.
 
 
For + verb-ing: the purpose of an object
However, if we are talking about the purpose of an object or an action, we normally use the for + verb-ing pattern. Note that this pattern commonly answers the question: What are they (used) for? Compare the following:
  • Schools are for educating children not for entertaining them.

  • Schools are for learning. Life is for living.

  • This kitchen knife is especially useful for slicing vegetables.

  • What's this for? ~ It's for opening oysters. It's much better than a knife.

  • What's this fifty pound note for? ~ It's for buying food for the weekend.
Note that when the subject of the sentence is a person rather than the thing described, the to + infinitive pattern is also possible:
  • I use this small knife to slice vegetables with.

  • I use this gadget to open shellfish with.
 
  (c) Adapted from http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv284.shtml

1 comment:

  1. I don´t know what does the meaning of the first sentence:

    I stopped by at his office for a chat .

    ReplyDelete

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