For/to

Question

What is the difference in meaning between these two?1: He was made to love her.2: He was made for loving her.And these two?1: He was born to die.2: He was born for dying.No difference whatsoever?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

There is a lot of idiom in these sentences. It will be hard to convey the nuances.

Taka1: He was made to love her.

At first reading this means that someone forced him to love her against his will. The ambiguity in "to make" is the problem. I would expect "He was born to love her" or He was made for her" or "They were made for each other", and the variation on those in "He was made to love her" fails because the reader goes on safari for the reason you reworded and finds nonsense.

Taka2: He was made for loving her.

This is unidiomatic. The progressive sounds funny here.

Taka1: He was born to die.

This sounds a bit Zen. We are all born to die. You would have to be more specific, like he was born to die young or something. Even so, I think you are stretching "born" uncomfortably.

Taka2: He was born for dying.

This suffers from the same problems of meaning as the last one and has the additional burden of an inexplicable progressive verb.

For/to

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions