 2 vs. 4 in English. This video is brought to you by the following English learning sites. In English, it is often the little words that cause the biggest problems. This video will focus on two of these words, 2 and 4. These two small words have many meanings and can be used in several different ways. It is easy to get them mixed up, but it is important for you to understand this. To help you remember, think of this as the 2, 4, or nothing problem. 2, 4, or nothing. 2, 4, 0. Let's start with 4. The word 4 has multiple meanings, probably more than any other preposition. In phrases of duration, he lived in New Jersey for five years, to indicate on behalf of. Fix the TV for his daughter. To indicate intended recipient, I bought this for you. To indicate occasion, I bought this for Christmas. To indicate cost, I bought this for $399. To indicate purpose, I bought this for fun. Source www.freeenglishstudy.com Grammar section, prepositions. Quick note, the word 4 can also be used as a coordinating conjunction. I cannot leave you, for I will always love you. 4 means because in this situation. But that's the topic of another video. Back to the preposition 4. Of the multiple meanings for 4, only 3 apply here. To indicate on behalf of, he fixed the TV for his daughter. To indicate intended recipient, I bought this for you. To indicate purpose, I bought this for fun. We will take a look at how each of these is used. The word 2 also has many uses. As part of an infinitive, example, I need to go. As the shortened form of, in order to. Example, I did that in order to get the job. To indicate the recipient of an action, example, I gave the gift to her. Here's where it gets complicated, 2, 4, or nothing. We'll start with nothing. In many cases, neither 2 nor 4 is required. Brenda loved Brad. Subject verb, object. Not, Brenda loved to Brad. She gave him a tie. Subject verb, indirect object, direct object. We can also say, she gave a tie to him. But not, she gave a tie for him. Let's talk a little more about 2 and 4 with recipients. Note the following examples. I made a gift for Jenny. I bought a gift for Jenny. I gave the gift to Jenny. What's the difference? Think about it. The difference is very subtle. Both the verbs make and buy, the focus of the action is on the direct object gift. That's what I made or bought. I didn't make Jenny. With give, Jenny can be seen as a recipient of the giving as well as the gift. Luckily, there are not many verbs that are used in this situation. See the following table for more information. 2, 4 or nothing and indirect objects, some examples, verb. Subject verb, indirect object, direct object. With 2, with 4, example. Give, give her a gift. Give a gift to her. No, lend, lend me a book. Lend a book to me. No, make, make him a toy. No, make a toy for him. Buy, buy her a ring. No, buy a ring for her. Bake, bake me a cake. No, bake a cake for me. Tell, tell him a lie. Tell a lie to him. Tell a lie for him. Send, send her a letter. Send a letter to her. Send a letter for her. Read, read me a story. Read a story to me. Read a story for me. Sell, sell them a car. Sell a car to them. Sell a car for them. Think of 4 as on behalf of, here. For some verbs, either 2 or 4 can be used, but the meaning is different. You can think of it like this. With 2, the recipient is getting an object. With 4, the recipient is getting a service. Sell a car to Terry. Terry will receive the car after payment. Sell a car for Terry. You are doing a service for Terry by selling his car to someone else. Note about word order. With indirect objects, nothing else, 2 or 4, is required, but the indirect object always comes before the direct object. I wrote him a letter, not I wrote a letter him. With 2 and 4, the prepositional phrase usually comes after the object. I wrote a letter to him. I wrote a letter for him. Not I wrote for him a letter. Here's a partial list of verbs that can be used with indirect objects. Subject, verb, indirect object, direct object, example, sing me a song. 2, 4, either 2 or 4, neither 2 nor 4. Give, hand, lend, offer, pass, pay, promise, show, teach, throw, ask, bake, build, buy, cash, choose, create, cook, do, fix, get, knit, make, prepare, pour, save, select, bring, provide, read, sell, send, sing, take, tell, write, charge, cost, wish, special verbs. Some indirect object verbs cannot be used with 2 or 4. For example, the stove cost us a lot of money. Not the stove cost a lot of money to us. And not the stove cost a lot of money for us. They charged me $300, or they charged me a high price. Not they charged a high price 2 or 4 me. I wish you a happy birthday. Not I wish a happy birthday to you or for you. More special verbs. Some verbs have many meanings and indirect objects can be used with only some of those meanings, but not others. For example, fix the car. Subject verb object only. Not fix me the car. Fix a drink. Subject verb, indirect object, direct object. Fix me a drink, okay. Do your job. Subject verb object only. Not do us your job. Do a favor. Subject verb, indirect object, direct object. Do us a favor, okay. Throw has a special idiomatic meaning. Throw a party for her. Normally we use it with to. Throw the ball to your friend. Special case, ask. The verb ask is different. It is most commonly used with indirect objects, but can be used in other ways. For example, meg asked the teacher a question. Meg asked a question to the teacher. No, that's incorrect. Meg asked a question for the teacher. This only means on behalf of. Meg asked a question of the teacher. That's also okay. Want some practice? Tell whether these sentences are correct or incorrect. Feel free to pause the video if you'd like more time. Did you get them all right? Some have more than one correct answer. Number one, Mr. Gullible lent his friend a lot of money. Number two, please save to me a piece of pie. No, please save a piece of pie for me or please save me a piece of pie. We bought for the boss a present. We bought a present for the boss or we bought the boss a present. Please make a new plan to the committee. Please make a new plan for the committee. My father built us a new house, okay. We asked to Ms. Jensen a few questions. Not okay. We asked Ms. Jensen a few questions. Seven, could you cash me a check? Okay. Eight, Kaylee will knit a sweater to her sister. Not okay. Kaylee will knit a sweater for her sister or Kaylee will knit her sister a sweater. Nine, she gave her son a bike for his birthday. Okay. Other uses of two and four as prepositions. Both two and four can be used as prepositions in other ways. For example, four can be used with occasions. She gave her son a bike for his birthday. Two can mean to ward or in the direction of. He rode to Connecticut for the holiday. Two and four for purposes. When talking about purposes, four is followed by a noun and two is followed by a verb. It takes the infinitive form. See these examples. They played basketball for fun. They played basketball for money. They played basketball to earn money. Elvie sang songs in order to entertain the guests. Elvie sang songs for the purpose of entertainment. Two in infinitives. When two is used in the infinitive form, it is followed by the base form of the verb and can be used as a subject or an object in a sentence. For example, we have decided to get married. Not we have decided to got married. I want to go to the football game. He expects to hear from him soon. I love to ski. To ski is to live. We can also say, skiing is living. Special usage. Words like recommend have special usage. I recommended Linda for the position. I recommended the job to Linda. I recommended Linda the job. No, that's incorrect. I recommended for Linda the job. Also incorrect. We have another video that deals with words like this. We recommend it to you. See the link in the description below. Other expressions. Once in a while you will see two and four used close together in the same sentence. See the following examples. This job is important to me. I care deeply about the job. This job is important for me. I need it to advance my career. This job is important to do. Someone must do it. This job is important for me to do. I have a heavy responsibility to do it. It is important for me to do this job. Same idea with focus on important. Other sentences like this. These words follow the pattern. It is adjective for person to verb. It is difficult for me to quit. It is necessary for her to stay here. It is not possible for Sam to finish the work. It is impossible for Sam to finish the work. To focus on other topics instead of the adjectives and make it less wordy, you can move elements around in the sentence. She needs to stay here. Quitting is difficult for me. Let's try some sentences for practice. Fill in the blanks with two or four. Pause the video if you'd like more time. Answer key. I need some extra money to buy a motorcycle. I need more money for the purpose of buying a house. Thank you for coming to my party. They went to Florida for their honeymoon. Your phone call is important to us. We really care. The Sims wanted to raise $10,000 for charity. Tony took his wife to Ohio for their anniversary. It is crazy for you to think that way. He refuses to work for $10 an hour. Hope that was helpful. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up in the comments below. Also, please let us know what topics you would like for our next video. www.eslgold.com slash submit question. Thanks for watching. Remember to subscribe and check out our websites for more information on these and other English learning topics.