onetest  +  22179 Wed, 11 Feb 04 09:31 PM Is it correct to use "for" in this sentence: "it takes for me a long time to do this"? onetest Joined on Wed, Feb 11 2004 New Member 01

	rommie  +  22228 Thu, 12 Feb 04 11:23 AM The following would also be correct 1. For me to do this takes a long time 2. It takes me a long time for to do this 3. It takes me a long time to do this Observe that in version 3, the word "for" has been omitted. (and in fact 3 is more common than 2). In other words, you can omit the "for" if the word "for" is followed by the infinitive "to". Rommie rommie Joined on Mon, Jan 26 2004 Earth orbit Regular Member 606

	pedant  +  22448 Sat, 14 Feb 04 08:16 AM Correction. 1 is awkward. Try this instead: "To do this would take a long time." 2 is incorrect. "It takes a long time for me to do this." is right. 3 is correct. pedant Joined on Thu, Dec 18 2003 Full Member 104

	rommie  +  22557 Mon, 16 Feb 04 09:54 AM Whoa, Pedant! 2 is NOT incorrect, it is merely rarely used. The use of the preposition "for" before an infinitive - as in, "I want for to go", "I need for to eat", and so on, may be old fashioned, but this use hasn't been written out of the rules yet, and is still correct formal English. Not only that, I explicitly included 2 so that the original poster could see the difference between 2 and 3. I also don't agree that 1 is "awkward". Sure, it isn't the most common way of phrasing it, but, if you phrased everything the same way every time, you'd be an awfully boring speaker. Variation is nice. Rommie. (And I'm not incorrect on point 2. Check it out). rommie Difference Between, Prepositions

	Chameleon  +  22729 Wed, 18 Feb 04 06:28 AM There is another possibility: "(As) For me, it takes a long time to do this." Implying that YOU might not take so long to do this. Chameleon Joined on Wed, Feb 18 2004 Full Member 174