TO and FOR in English — How to Choose the Right Preposition

Oct 18, 2017 | Grammar

Is it okay to say, “I’ve decided to sign up TO a marathon this year?”

If you’re reading that sentence again and again but you’re not sure, that’s okay. Making the right choice for which preposition to use is never an easy task.

But you’re in luck! Today’s lesson helps you choose between TO and FOR correctly in English.

Here’s the answer. We cannot say, “I’ve decided to sign up TO a marathon this year.” It doesn’t work in English. Instead, we would say, “I’ve decided to sign up FOR a marathon this year.” But why?

A few months ago, I shared Part 1 of this lesson with you. We focused on situations when both TO or FOR can be correct in a sentence but with small differences in meaning.

In today’s Confident English lesson, we’ll step this one step further. We’ll look at simple guidelines for when only one choice – between to and for – is possible. I’ve also shared several examples so you can clearly so how these guidelines are used in real life English.

And finally, I have two surprisingly simple things you can do to make sure you learn these rules and can use them easily.

Simple guidelines for making the right choice between to and for in English.

Lesson by Annemarie

After you’ve watched the video, be sure to take this opportunity to practice!

Remeber these two keys for learning these guidelines for daily English: real-life use and repetition.  Use this lesson to start that practice.

  1. Choose a few guidelines from the lesson and create your own examples. Use your real life to help you.
  2. Then share your examples below. It’s the best place to communicate and get feedback from me. Plus you can review and comments on posts from others in the Confident English Community.

Have a fantastic Confident English Wednesday!

~ Annemarie

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