Confused

Prepositions in English are frustrating, but they are important. I was checking my FaceBook this morning when I saw this headline:

“Pizza Woman Delivers to Church … Leaves Sobbing After What Christians Do to Her”

When I read this, I thought it was a story about unkind Christians at a church. Why did I think this? Continue reading for the answer.

The Truth

I decided to read the story to see what happened. Teachers are always very curious. The story was about a really big tip, (extra money), that the people at the church gave to her. It was a very beautiful article. You can read it at the link below.

The Problem

The problem with the title was a little preposition: “to.” Read these two quotes. One is a repeat of the headline, and the other is my version.

“Pizza Woman Delivers to Church … Leaves Sobbing After What Christians Do to Her”

“Pizza Woman Delivers to Church … Leaves Sobbing After What Christians Do for Her”

Do you see the difference? It is only one little word. But teacher, why is this little word so important? Well, just like any language, all of the words in English have meaning. We have two multi-word verbs in English which are important for this situation. A multi-word verb is a verb that has a verb and one or more other words to help make the meaning. Please read these two verbs:

do for = to do something that gives benefit

do to = take an action that affects someone or something

She will do the chores for her brother because he is sick.

David will do something terrible to you if you are late again.

You can see from the definitions and examples that “do for” is almost always positive. You can also see that “do to” is almost always negative. I say almost always because all students know, or will know, that English has many many exceptions. If we know that one is positive and one is negative, we can understand why I made the mistake when I read the headline. My English brain used the negative meaning of “do to” and made a guess about the article. The author of the headline sent the wrong message. Of course, I understand that this was a small mistake. It was not the intention. But it is a good example of how grammar can help you send a correct message.

What Now

Teacher, does this mean that my grammar must be perfect all the time? No, no. This is impossible. Also, context, vocabulary, and sometimes repeating in a different way will help you to communicate. I am saying that it is a valuable thing to learn grammar and use it correctly so you can give a clear message. Just do your best, then don’t worry. Learning grammar is just another part of your English journey.

Source

Pizza Woman Delivers to Church … Leaves Sobbing After What Christians Do to Her, (2015, October 14). Conservative Tribune. Retrieved from http://conservativetribune.com/pizza-woman-delivers-to-church/