For/To (给)

给 (gěi) has two main roles in Chinese. As a verb, it means "to give": "我给你一本书" (I give you a book). As a preposition, it means "for" or "to," indicating who benefits from or receives the result of an action.

When 给 is used as a preposition, it appears before the verb: "我给你买了一杯咖啡" (wǒ gěi nǐ mǎi le yì bēi kāfēi) — "I bought a cup of coffee for you." Here 给你 (for you) is a prepositional phrase modifying the verb 买 (buy). The structure is: Subject + 给 + Person + Verb + Object.

给 as a preposition is extremely common in daily life. You will hear it in sentences like "我给你打电话" (I'll call you — literally "give you make a phone call"), "他给我发了一条消息" (He sent me a message), and "请给我看看" (Please show me / let me see).

Be careful not to confuse the verb 给 with the preposition 给. The difference is about position in the sentence: as a verb, 给 is the main action ("give"); as a preposition, it precedes another verb and indicates the beneficiary of that verb's action.