Be to something

Question

1. It is to your advantage to do so.2. That was to the benefit of the UK economy.3. Your action was to the purpose.4. His appeal was to the brain not to the feelings.I'd like to know here what role "to"s play.Thank you in advance for your help.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

park sang joon'd like to know here what role "to"s play.

'Role' is not a grammatical term, so I am not sure what you mean.

'To' is a preposition. It means 'in the direction of, toward', here notional rather than physical.

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, Mr. Micawber, for your very helpful answer.

I'd like to ask you to present around two more examples, if may.

Mister Micawber · Answer

I'd rather that you tried to come up with them, and we'll check your effort.

Park sang joon · Answer

How about this?
"It was to patriotism for her nation that Joan Of Arc didn't blame her nation when being unjustly burnt at the stake."

Mister Micawber · Answer

No, 'to' + 'blame' does not work

It was to patriotism for her nation that Joan Of Arc ascribed her popularity.

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, Mr. Micawber, for your continuing support.

Your example is that adverbial phrase is fronted unlike my examples.
So, I have the feeling your example is similar to my examples in the strcuture.
I think I may be somewhat familiar with such structures as in your example.
I need some examples similar to my examples in the structure to write down on my notepad.

CalifJim · Answer

park sang joonBe to something

It's not actually "be to". The "to" doesn't go with the preceding form of "be"; it goes with the following words.

Your examples show various patterns. There is no common role played by "to" in these examples. (That's why there is no true "be to" expression in the relevant reading of your question.)

1. It is to your advantage to do so.
~ To do so is to your advantage. ~ To do so is "to-your-advantage". (idiom) ~ To do so is advantageous to you.

2. That was to the benefit of the UK economy.
~ That was for the benefit of the UK economy. ("to" is a variant of "for" here.)

3. Your action was to the purpose.
~ Your action was "to-the-purpose. (idiom) ~ Your action was appropriate/adequate for the situation.

4. His appeal was to the brain not to the feelings.
"appeal" takes the preposition "to": They appealed to the government for help. ("appeal" as a verb)
His appeal was an appeal to the brain and not an appeal to the feelings. ("appeal" as a noun)

CJ

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, Mr.Jim, for for yet another very helpful answer from you.

2. That was to the benefit of the UK economy.
~ That was for the benefit of the UK economy. ("to" is a variant of "for" here.)

I'd like to know what case I can use the preposition "to" in lieu of "for" in.

CalifJim · Answer

park sang joonI'd like to know what case I can use the preposition "to" in lieu of "for" in.

In the expression "for the benefit of".

I'm not a human database, so I can't give you a list of cases. Native speakers don't think in terms of "What are all the situations in my language where either "for" or "to" will work?"

CJ

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