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As a foreign person, it's hard to understand exactly and use the proper preposition.

I don't know whether following sentences are right. Also, I don't know the exact meaning of following sentences.

  1. It's easy for you.
  2. It's easy to you.
  3. It's easy with you.

Could you tell me whether these sentences are right? If not, answer me why that sentence is awkward. If that sentence is right, answer me the exact meaning of that sentence and from which meaning of preposition that interprets is possible.

In advance, thank you!

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  • Without quite a lot more context, perhaps as contrived as that given in fixer1234's answer, one can only say that only the first option is used at all regularly by native speakers with the sense 'You find this easy'. Commented May 30, 2017 at 7:54

1 Answer 1

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It's easy for you.

This means that you are able to do something easily. For example, "I find it difficult to do math problems, but it's easy for you."

It's easy to you.

This is a somewhat uncommon combination. The usage I can think of would be a sarcastic comment that you deem something easy when it really isn't, or it's your opinion that it's easy, similar to "It's easy according to you".

For example: "Everybody else recognizes how much effort I put into my job, but it's easy to you." That is an informal usage, maybe even specific to certain geographic areas.

A somewhat similar usage would be saying "That's easy to you." as a confirming statement or rhetorical question after someone describes something very difficult and then claims it was easy; a meaning similar to, "That's what 'easy' means to you?"

It's easy with you.

This means that I find something to be easier to do if you do it with me. For example, "I have a hard time doing jigsaw puzzles by myself, but it's easy with you."

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  • thanks. I fully understand about 'easy to you' and 'easy with you', but yet a little confusing about 'easy for you'. Usually 'for you = because of you', so etymologically I think 'It's easy for you = It's easy because of you, so you can do it easily'. Maybe you think Why this questioner thinks this awkwardly, but it's an effort for understanding preposition naturally so I can communicate freely any situation. It's my pleasure if you give me some comment.
    – Mr.choi
    Commented May 30, 2017 at 7:14
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    That meaning of "for" is actually somewhat unusual, at least in normal speech. It's more something you would find in poetry or certain writing styles. Like, "But for you, I wouldn't be here." or "I couldn't sleep for the heat." "For" actually has a lot of uses and definitions (see macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/for). Here it is used to indicate who or what does the action (def #13 in the link). It's a little like the function of showing ownership or possession of "easy".
    – fixer1234
    Commented May 30, 2017 at 7:42
  • Realized a lot from the good answer!
    – Mr.choi
    Commented May 30, 2017 at 9:07

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