Why did she give you the keys instead to her parents?
Why did she give you the keys instead of to her parents?
What's the correct version? And why? (Both sound equally correct to me, but maybe that's because English isn't my native tongue.)
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Sign up to join this communityWhy did she give you the keys instead to her parents?
Why did she give you the keys instead of to her parents?
What's the correct version? And why? (Both sound equally correct to me, but maybe that's because English isn't my native tongue.)
None!
It is used as a preposition in such context.
instead of: in the place of somebody/something
So,
Why did she give the keys to you instead of her parents?
It must be "instead of", so the first one is not correct.
Although the second one is "instead of", the structure before and after is not parallel. Perhaps you should change the verb phrase "give sb sth" as
"give the key to you instead of her parents".
If you say "give you the key instead of her parents", people may get the idea that "her parents" should be given to you, not the key.