给 (for / to give)

[alexonline]

你们好：

I`m having some trouble distinguishing between 给 as 'for',like in 请你给我买一些苹果吧 - 'buy (for) me some apples' and as 'to give',like in 请给我看看您的护照 - 'let (give) me see your passport'.

Could you confirm,please,that I interpreted the following sentences right:

1.这是给你的咖啡 - lit. 'this is coffee to give you' -> 'this is your coffee'?
2.这些平果给你，你拿着 - ‘these apples give yourself (= take),?’


谢谢。

 

[cclin]

1.这是给你的咖啡 - lit. 'this is coffee to give you' -> 'this is your coffee'?
2.这些平果给你，你拿着 - ‘these apples give yourself (= take),?’

Sentence 1, "This coffee is for you."
Likewise, "These apples are for you. Keep them."

Hope it helps.

 

[SuperXW]

You can usually judge the meaning through the sentence's structure:

1. 这是给你的咖啡。 This is coffee for you.
是 is the verb. You don't need another verb.
This is coffee to give you.
Also ok, because here, "coffee for you" and "coffee to give you" mean exactly the same.

2. 这些苹果给你，你拿着。 Give you these apples. You hold them.
No verb in the first sentence. 给 should be the verb.

Anyway, in Chinese's minds, it's not important in your cases whether you understand them as "for you" or "to give you", as those things are both for you and to be given to you.

But in some cases it is important, for example:
给 somebody+verb: usually "for somebody", can't be "give somebody"
E.g. 医生给你看病. "Doctor checks illness for you".
你给他拿走那些苹果. "You take away those apples for him."

These are more complicate functions of "给 somebody" which can cause ambiguity, but I think you should understand the above sentences first.
If you are not sure, always think it as "for somebody".

 

[fyl]

I think the OP is right, 给 is "to give" in both cases.

When 给 means "for", it can be replaced by 为 (in most cases). And this is not the case in the two sentences.
In both 这是给你的咖啡 and 这些苹果给你, coffee and apple are "given" to you. The action of "give" is quite clear when I read these two sentences.

I think what may be confusing is that the English word "for" can be used in many places: "this coffee is for you" can mean "this coffee is given to you". But the "for" in "do sth for sb" should be distinguishable from "give".

When 给 means "for", it is usually used in structures like 给+person+verb. When 给 means "give", the verb does not exist. Basically "for" and "give" are different parts of sentence.

 

[Skatinginbc]

I think the OP is right, 给 is "to give" in both cases.

Agree.
这是给你的咖啡 vs. 这是養你的父母 ==> 给 and 養 are verbs.
这些苹果给你，你拿着 vs. 这枚鑽戒送你，你戴上

请你给(= 為)我买一些苹果吧
请给(= 讓)我看看您的护照

 

[alexonline]

谢谢大家！

2. 这些苹果给你，你拿着。 Give you these apples. You hold them.
No verb in the first sentence. 给 should be the verb.

SuperXW,thanks very much,I got it.Just a touch up: 这些苹果（我）给你，你拿着 definitely is
{Obj (+ Subj) + V}.Is that a fixed collocation for this meaning or we can make a regular sentence { (Subj) + V + Obj} out of it: （我）给你这些苹果，你拿着? Would the meaning remain the same?