To or For

To is a preposition that is used with a word in the fourth case called as the dative case. There are seven different cases in English Grammar and they are Nominative case, Accusative case, Instrumental case, Dative case, Ablative case, Genitive case and Possessive case. All these cases are used differently with different prepositions to convey proper ideas to the reader or the listener. It is important to know that the preposition to is used in the dative case. Look at the usage of the preposition to in the following sentences:

He gave a book to his classmate.

Francis traveled to London from Paris.

In the first sentence, you can see that a book was given by somebody to his classmate and in the second sentence, you can find that Francis moved from one place to another. In both of the sentences, the preposition to is used in the sense of movement. In other words, to indicates a movement of a person or a thing from one place to another or from one person to another. In the first example, the usage of to indicates the movement of the book from a person to his classmate. In the second example, the usage of to indicates the movement of Francis from Paris to London.

The preposition for is also used in the dative case but with a slight difference. Moreover, the preposition for indicates the importance of a person or a thing for whom an action has been done as in the following sentences.

I purchased a book for my father.

He did everything for his elder brother.

In both of the above mentioned sentences, you can understand the importance attached to the two persons, ‘father’ and ‘elder brother’ in the two sentences respectively.

• To is a preposition that is used with a word in the fourth case called as the dative case.

• The preposition for is also used in the dative case but with a slight difference.

• The preposition to indicates a movement of a person or a thing from one place to another or from one person to another.

• On the other hand, the preposition for indicates the importance of a person or a thing for whom an action has been done.

Here is a link you can follow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3gvjrh5_TY