31.5 The Preposition 同 tung4 II (‘for’)

In Grammar and Vocabulary 11.2, we learned that the preposition 同 tung4 means ‘with’.

The preposition 同 tung4 can also mean ‘for’ (as in I will refill the cups for you). When an action is done to help someone, we can use 同 tung4 to indicate who receives the help. We put a person after 同 tung4 to form a prepositional phrase.

We put the prepositional phrase before the verb we want to modify.

In Grammar and Vocabulary 24.1, we also learned to use the preposition 幫 bong1 (‘for’) to indicate who receives the help. 同 tung4 and 幫 bong1 are similar in this use, but 幫 bong1 usually conveys a clearer sense of help, as 幫 bong1 means ‘to help’ when used as a verb.