Prepositions 'to' and 'for'

[Unregistered]

When do you use the words 'to' and 'for'. For example: would I say, 'It is important to me.' or 'It is important for me.' My boyfriend's native language is Portuguese and he keeps asking me whether he should use 'to' or 'for' in a sentence and both sound right and I can't explain when you would use one over the other. Any help out there would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Snowcake]

This might help:

http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/as...important.html

[Soup]

When do you use the words 'to' and 'for'. For example: would I say, 'It is important to me.' or 'It is important for me.' My boyfriend's native language is Portuguese and he keeps asking me whether he should use 'to' or 'for' in a sentence and both sound right and I can't explain when you would use one over the other. Any help out there would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

For is often used to express a recipient; e.g., this gift is for you. To is often used to express direct towards; e.g., give the gift to me. Many words can take either to or for; e.g., necessary to [do something]; necessary for you [to do something]; confined to [a place]; confined for [doing something]. With important the structure is almost the same but the meaning differs; important to [someone]; important for [someone]:

Teacher: Marcus. Please stop talking and pay attention. It's important for you to listen as you will benefit from this.

Marcus: Actually, it's not really all that important to me, because I have no interest in the topic.