Which preposition should go first? "for two hours" or "for her"? and why?
He has been writing a letter for two hours to her.
He has been writing a letter to her for two hours.
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1I can understand both sentences, but the first one is confusing. This error is called a misplaced modifier. Does he write a letter for a person named "two hours"?, it's quite ridiculous right. The second sentence is OK.– Mohd Zulkanien SarbiniJan 30, 2017 at 10:19
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2Normally we write letters to people, not for them. I wouldn't go so far as to say "for her" is incorrect, but I do think this could be improved by saying: For two hours, he has been writing a letter to her.– J.R. ♦Jan 30, 2017 at 10:35
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Shouldn't it be since two hours?– CinCoutJan 30, 2017 at 10:58
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@CinCout - No, but it could be: He has been writing a letter to her since two hours ago.– J.R. ♦Jan 30, 2017 at 10:59
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@J.R. I am sure you are wrong about this one. ago is not required; since itself gives the starting point of actions, events or states. It refers to when things began.– CinCoutJan 30, 2017 at 11:52
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1 Answer
First, as people have pointed out in the comments "writing a letter to her" is much more natural than "writing a letter for her" [The question has already been edited to change this].
Secondly, both ways round are grammatical - but the "to her" is part of the pattern "write a letter to ...", so there is a strong preference for putting it closer to the verb than an adjunct (an optional extra) such as "for two hours".
answered Jan 30, 2017 at 12:31
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Agreed. Note that "writing a letter for her" is quite valid but it is equivalent to "writing a letter on her behalf" Jan 30, 2017 at 13:56
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Would whoever downvoted this like to indicate why? I'm not bothered about being downvoted per se, but as it stands it has a negative score, which may suggest that it is not useful. If it isn't, I'd like to know why. Feb 1, 2017 at 14:58