I bought her a gift card for her birthday.

[yuechu]

大家好！

I was recently wondering how to say the following sentence in Chinese: "I bought her a gift card for her birthday."
Would this be: "我（为了？对？）她买了一张礼品代金卡。"?
（The WR dictionary says that a gift card is 礼品代金卡. Is this term commonly used in China?)

Thanks!

 

[lekal]

她过生日我给她买了张礼品卡。（或者充值卡、购物卡）

 

[yuechu]

Thanks for your answer, Lekal! (and for including all those options)

她过生日我给她买了张礼品卡。（或者充值卡、购物卡）

Because the birthday was also in the past, could I add a 了 to the first part of the sentence? （“她过生日了（所以）我给她买了张礼品卡。) or would that sound 别扭？

 

[paper worker]

Thanks for your answer, Lekal! (and for including all those options)


Because the birthday was also in the past, could I add a 了 to the first part of the sentence? （“她过生日了（所以）我给她买了张礼品卡。) or would that sound 别扭？

I feel a little 别扭。 lekal's translation can also refer the past. It's not necessary to add 了 for past tense.

 

[yuechu]

OK! Thanks, Paper worker!

 

[SimonTsai]

她过生日【了】 (所以) 我给她买了张礼品卡。

Adding 了 would make it more than just awkward, but make it wrong, at least to me. The particle 了 suggests the perfect tense, or more generally, a connection to the actual or historical present.

她生日就快要到【了】，所以我給她買了張禮品卡。​

In this sentence, the use of 了 is natural. '她生日就快要到了' is a future in the past. The connection to the historical present (which is actually the past) is causal: The first part explains the second.

她生日都已經過【了】，我現在這禮品卡要送出去也不知道要用甚麼名義。​

In this sentence, the use of 了 is also natural. '她生日都已經過了' is in the present perfect. The present is the actual present rather than a historical one. The connection is causal, too.

 

[yuechu]

Oh ok! Thanks for the examples with 了, Simon!

 

[SuperXW]

I was recently wondering how to say the following sentence in Chinese: "I bought her a gift card for her birthday."
Would this be: "我（为了？对？）她买了一张礼品代金卡。"?

我给她买了一张礼品卡/代金卡。 colloquial
我为她买了一张礼品卡/代金卡。 a little more formal than 给
我为了她买了一张礼品卡/代金卡。 unnatural, too much emotion. usually 我为了她付出了很多(made a lot of effort or sacrifice)
我对她买了一张礼品卡/代金卡。

 

[yuechu]

我给她买了一张礼品卡/代金卡。 colloquial
我为她买了一张礼品卡/代金卡。 a little more formal than 给
我为了她买了一张礼品卡/代金卡。 unnatural, too much emotion. usually 我为了她付出了很多(made a lot of effort or sacrifice)
我对她买了一张礼品卡/代金卡。

That's great! Thanks for letting me know which prepositions are correct here, SuperXW! 😄

 

[Liang~]

我给她买了一张礼品卡作为生日礼物

 

[yuechu]

Thanks, Liang~! That's exactly the structure I was looking for.