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Question

1-I paid him two dollars for using his phone.

Is it possible that I had not used the phone yet when I paid him, but was going to use it?

2-I paid him twenty five dollars for repairing my computer.

Is it possible that he had not yet repaired my computer when I paid him, but was going to do so?

Gratefully,
Navi,

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

1. With the preposition "for," the sentence is understood to mean: You paid him $2 to use his phone and then used it. If you had said: "I paid him $2 to use his phone.", this would also generally mean that you paid $2 and then used the phone, but here, with the preposition "to," the possibility exists that you paid the $2 but did not use the phone for some reason.

If you want to convey the idea of initially paying him $2, without yet using the phone, you would say: "I paid him $2 to use his phone." (The preposition "for" would imply that the usage of the phone has been completed.) However, this is awkward, because the past tense denotes action in the past, as in a narrative, and if you paid him $2 in the past, then the likelihood is that the repair has been completed. So this type of sentence, in this sense, would rarely be used in narration.

2. Similarly with this sentence, with the preposition "for," you paid and then used the phone. With the preposition "to" ("...$25 to repair my computer."), the possibility exists that you paid and then he did not repair the computer for some reason.

To convey the idea of initially paying, before any repair has been done, you would say: "I paid him $25 to repair my computer." (Again, the preposition "for" implies that the repair has been completed.) But again, this is awkward, because if the action is in the past, then the repair would likely have been completed, so this type of sentence, with this sense, would be rare in narration.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

navitasan1-I paid him two dollars for using his phone. Is it possible that I had not used the phone yet when I paid him,

The implied meaning of the above sentence is that you had used his phone and paid him $2.

navitasan2-I paid him twenty five dollars for repairing my computer.Is it possible that he had not yet repaired my computer when I paid him

The sentence is not what I would call smooth. As written, it also implied the repair was done. Otherwise, you wouldn't have paid him. That being said, I would say: " I paid him $25 dollars for the repair of my computer".

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