To and for are some of the most common prepositions in English—you see them everywhere, in almost every sentence. That’s what makes it so frustrating to get them mixed up; after all, the for and to difference isn’t exactly easy to understand.
Word pairings that use to:
access to
addiction/addicted to
attraction/attracted to
change to
contribute to
dedicate/dedication to
new to
react/reaction to
refer/reference to
respond/response to
threat to
transition to
to some extent
to [someone’s] surprise
to [someone’s] face
to this day
Common phrasal verbs with to:
get around to
get down to
get to
look up to
see to
Word pairings that use for
advertise/advertisement for
approval for
argue/argument for
care for
cure for
hunger/hungry for
pay for
recipe for
room for
search for
study for
talent for
thirst/thirsty for
for a living
for a while
for free
for good
for now
for sale
for starters
for sure
for the best
for the record
for the time being
Common phrasal verbs with for:
go for
look for
look / watch out for