Of, To, For

Of

Of – belonging to, connected with, related to
This is a collection of romantic stories.
I always dreamed of being famous.
He wrote letters of love to me.
This is the best part of the film.

Of – to say what/when/where
I graduated in the autumn of 1999
This is a picture of my son.
He is the owner of the restaurant.

Of – to show quantity or a number
He drank five litres of beer.
There was a huge crowd of protesters in the streets.

To

To – to indicate the place, person or thing someone or something is moving towards.
I am going to the shopping mall.
The e-mail was sent to me by mistake.
After work we all go to the pub next door for a drink.

To – a limit or an end.
The tree grew to 40 meters in height.
We dived down to twenty meters.
The temperature rose to +36 degrees in August.

To – connecting relationships
That was not the right answer to the question.
The documents lead to his arrest.
She didn’t react to his rude behaviour.

To – time periods
I work from nine to eight.
We were on holiday from June to August.

For

For – use of something
This building is used for council meetings.
We organised a party for Anne’s birthday.
The cameras are there for your safety.

For – because of
I am so happy for you.
We are sorry for your loss.
It was for this reason that I decided to leave the company.

For – time or duration
He's been living here for years.
I will be away for a week.
That is all I can tell you for now.

Lesson by Tristan, teacher at EC Malta English school

Now complete the following with the correct preposition:

• 1) I have not had a job _ five months.
  
  to
  of
  for
  
  
• 2) We have never been _ Japan.
  
  for
  to
  of
  
  
• 3) Her boyfriend bought her a car _ her birthday.
  
  of
  to
  for
  
  
• 4) I want to go straight _ bed when I get home. We’ve been travelling for ten hours.
  
  of
  to
  for
  
  
• 5) I was fifteen minutes late _ the interview.
  
  of
  for
  to
  
  
• 6) The mayor of New York is one _ my relatives.
  
  for
  of
  to
  
  
• 7) This book is a collection _ love letters written through the centuries.
  
  to
  of
  for