For — Purpose, Recipients, and Collocations

Use 'for' to indicate the purpose of an object (for cutting), the intended recipient, the reason behind an action, and in fixed collocations like responsible for and famous for.

For — Purpose, Recipients, and Collocations

'For' is one of the most productive prepositions in English, covering purpose, intended beneficiary, reason, and a dense cluster of adjective and verb collocations. Collocation data from COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English) shows that 'for' is the preposition required in over 60 of the 200 most common adjective + preposition and verb + preposition patterns. Despite this frequency, learners at B1–B2 consistently substitute 'about' for purpose/reason uses and 'of' or 'with' in collocations like 'responsible for' and 'famous for'.

For + -ing — Purpose of an Object

This knife is used for cutting bread.
This is a tool for measuring temperature.

For — Recipient

This present is for my mother.
I booked a table for two.

For — Reason Behind an Action

She apologised for being late.
He thanked me for helping him move.

Key Collocations

Paris is famous for its architecture.
Who is responsible for this project?
Are you ready for the exam?

Common Mistakes

✗ She is responsible about the project. → ✓ She is responsible for the project.
✗ She is famous about her cooking. → ✓ She is famous for her cooking.
✗ He thanked me about helping him. → ✓ He thanked me for helping him.