# EN: pour moi - for/to me - preposition



## taureauxx

Bonjour,

Ma question va peut-être vous parraitre une question de débutant mais je souhaiterais savoir comment on traduit "pour moi" en anglais. Je suis persuadé que l'on peut utiliser à la fois "for me" et "to me" car il me semble avoir entendu les deux formes. 
En revanche ce dont je suis moins sur, c'est sur la stricte équivalence des deux formes.

Par exemple si je veux dire: c'est vraiment important pour moi. Peut-on le traduire par:

That is very important for me.
ou That is very important to me.

Merci d'avance de m'éclairer...

*Moderator note:* Multiple threads have been merged to create this one.


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## lovestoeat

I believe it would be for me


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## Maharg

Salut,

D'habitude, je dirais 'to me'. ça dépend du sens. Par exemple, 'I like sport. It's very important _to _me. Mais, 'I need to go to the doctor's. It's very important _for _me to go.' D'habitude, on utilise 'for' quand on parle au sujet de ce qu'on va faire, mais on utilise 'to' quand on parle au sujet de quels choses sont importants. J'espère que ce sera vous aider. (Et que ma grammaire française n'est pas trop mal).



Maharg


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## taureauxx

Thanks Maharg,

Donc on peut donc employer les deux formes suivant le contexte.


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## Maharg

Oui, c'est ça!


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## MoiToutSimplement

Hi again and again!

Just don't understand what's the difference between "to me" and "for me" 
I know it's depend of the context but my problem is i don't know when i have to use "for me" rather than "to me"
Can you just give me some examples ....


Thank you


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## bloomiegirl

speak to me about... = parlez-moi de...
speak for me = parlez pour moi - ou - parlez de ma part.


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## anagram

'to'  indicates movement towards....
give it to me
come over here to me

But there are so many idiomatic expressions, you need to give us more specific examples of the problem


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## gambit2099

Hello !

I've got a problem about "for" and "to", I really don't know when I have to use one or the other.

I have some sentences like those:
"See to them, you're just a freak"
"A leurs yeux (= *pour* eux), tu n'es qu'un monstre"

"Even to a guy like me, that's not cool"
"Même *pour *un mec comme moi, c'est pas cool"

"Could you do something for me?"
"Pourrais-tu faire quelque chose *pour* moi?"

...And in french it's always "pour".
So, can anyone tell me when i've to use "for" and when i've to use "to" ? 

Thank you so much !


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## geostan

Before getting to your question, I'd like to suggest that the contraction _*I've*_ is not usual when followed by _*to and a verb*_. It is more usual to say _*I have to.
*_
Your first sentence is curious.  I would omit "See."  _*To them, you're just a freak!*_

Your second sentence could use either _*to*_ or _for_.

In the third sentence, _*for*_ is the only option.

As for an all inclusive rule about when to use _*to*_ or _*fo**r*_, I don't know any. It's like asking a native French speaker when to use _*à*_ or _*de*_ with an infinitive.

Sorry I cannot be of more help.

Cheers!


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## cropje_jnr

A very simplistic difference from your three examples given is that the first two, which can/must take 'to' in English, involve opinions or perceptions. The third, meanwhile, roughly equates to 'on behalf of' (_de la part de_), i.e. doing something for someone. I'm not too optimistic about this applying to absolutely all example sentences you can think of, however.

In your first sentence, the 'see' could be quite correct (although it would be better if it was followed by a comma), if it meant the same as '_tu vois_' in the same context in French.


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## massirifani

J'ai vraiment un mal fou avec ca.

This is no surprise to me. Si je ne le voyais pas avant, je dirais for me.
You have been so nice to me. Pareil. Mais sauf que dans ce cas, j'allais douter en faveur de *ENVERS moi.*
QUELLE est la regle? Merci.


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## NemoNobody

Je serais tenté de dire "to" pour les personnes, "for" pour les choses/les idées ; à faire confirmer par un "native".


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## Keith Bradford

Massifirani, ne cherche pas de règles en anglais, ça n'existe guère. Il n'y a que les habitudes et le style. *To* signifie une action directe envers quelqu'un. *For* signifie quelque chose de moins direct. Par exemple, dans les deux exemples que tu donnes :

_This is no surprise to/for me_. Les deux sont possibles, il n'y a que la nuance que je viens de suggérer.
_You have been so nice to me_. = Tu m'as été gentil. 
_You have been so nice for me _(rare). = Tu as été gentil (comment ? envers un tiers ? on ne sait pas) mais tu l'as fait pour l'amour de moi.  C'est donc moins direct que N°2.


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## Fab!

I heard that one should not say "for me" (ex: for me, you're beautiful") but I have often heard such a thing. Is is better to say "to me". Are both of them correct ?


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## Keith Bradford

You have been misinformed.

_For me, you are beautiful _= A mon avis, de mon point de vue, selon moi...
_To me you are beautiful _= L'impact que tu me fais est...  J'ai l'impression que tu es...

La différence est minimale.  La première version reçoit 2,1 millions de réponses sur Google, la deuxième 3,1 millions.


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## PanPan01

Keith Bradford said:


> _For me, you are beautiful _= A mon avis, de mon point de vue, selon moi...
> _To me you are beautiful _= L'impact que tu me fais est... J'ai l'impression que tu es...


Justement, ce que je ne comprends pas c'est pourquoi il y a des situations ou "For me" peut exprimer une opinion comme l'exemple du dessus, et pourquoi il y a des situations ou ça ne marche pas.

Dans ce fil, il est très clairement expliqué que "_For me, it's not a problem_" n'exprime pas une opinion mais "_For my purposes/In my case, it's not a problem_" (c.f It is not a problem <for><to> me.)
Ici c'est pareil, les natifs font aussi le distinguo entre les 2 To me you are perfect
To me, you are perfect = In my opinion you are perfect
For me, you are perfect = You are the perfect match for me


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## Hans in Texas

I think Anagram indicated the basic sense in his comment#8: “to me” accompanies the evaluation of a perception of something external to the speaker —
To me, that sounds/looks/smells like an elephant. To me, this decision seems/appears to be a mistake.
“for me” expresses an emotional or qualitative statement arising from within the speaker —
For me, there is only one sport: curling. You’re the only girl for me. A Jaguar is the car for me.


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