Grammar

Question

Could you check whether the following sentence is fine?
Thank you for your help.

I found it difficult to buy a birthday present for her parents at this unearthly hour, so that I put some money in envelope for her to buy it when she went to her parents' home.

KrisBlueNZ · Accepted Answer

I found it HARD to FIND a birthday present for her parents at THAT unearthly hour, so ~~THAT~~ I put some money in AN envelope SO SHE COULD BUY ONE when she went to her parents' home.

HARD instead of DIFFICULT - just using a simpler word.
FIND instead of BUY - the problem was that it was late, and most shops were closed, so you had trouble finding a suitable present. BUY is right, since you couldn't buy one because you couldn't find one, but I think FIND is better.
THAT unearthly hour - you are writing AFTER the fact, so you shouldn't really say THIS unearthly hour. You're referring to a time in the past, which is THAT unearthly hour.
SO instead of SO THAT - this is an important one to understand. SO THAT is specifically used to mean "in order that", or "for the purpose of". For example, "I put it in my pocket SO THAT I could use it later". In your case, you mean "therefore" or "consequently". You couldn't find a present, SO you put some money ...
in AN envelope - you need the the indefinite article there.
FOR HER TO BUY - you've just mentioned money that you put in an envelope. You could then say "so she could buy ...", or "with which to buy ...", or "for her to buy ... WITH", but you can't phrase it the way you had it. I'm sorry I can't explain the grammatical rules that you're violating, but it is definitely wrong.
buy ONE instead of buy IT - IT is the definite article. At this point in your sentence, there is no specific or definite present, so you can't use IT to refer to the present. At this point, it's "A present", or "ONE".
I'd also suggest "... ON HER WAY to her parents' home" instead of "WHEN SHE WENT to her parents' home".

Lucas21c · Answer

Thank you for your answer. By the way, it is okay that I use "so that she could buy one...." instead of "so she could buy one.."?

Mister Micawber · Answer

By the way, it is okay that I use "so that she could buy one...." instead of "so she could buy one.."?-- Yes, 'that' is optional there.

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