Which preposition, for or to, is correct in below sentence?
It is less stressful [for/to] a child than an adult to learn a foreign language.
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2In case it isn't clear from the answers, for is definitely the right preposition here. – Peter Shor May 05 '11 at 10:12
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Related: Rule for using “for” vs. “to” – b.roth May 05 '11 at 10:43
2 Answers
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The preposition for introduces the person who feels stressful, regardless of the verb form used:
Working is stressful for some.
It is stressful for some to work.
You can omit the subject of the stress:
It is stressful to work.
NGrams shows that to is also used but for is the preferred preposition. It also shows that stress was popularised in the late 20th century.
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You said the same I did: use of "for" as the basic one, and "to" with verbs. What's the difference? – Alenanno May 05 '11 at 09:14
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1I am saying the object person is always introduced with for, never to. In the examples to is not a preposition it is part of a verb form. The verb form that describes the action causing the stress. – z7sg Ѫ May 05 '11 at 10:06
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Ok but I never said "to" is a preposition... Plus it seems czh found an entry where to is used as a preposition. – Alenanno May 05 '11 at 10:08
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Judging from the hits google gets, some of these cites of "stressful to me" in the Ngram are probably sentences like "Your job seems very stressful to me," while others are cases of people using to rather than for that I would consider incorrect. – Peter Shor May 05 '11 at 17:29
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It is less stressful ( for / to ) a child than an adult to learn a foreign language.
"For" is the right choice, but it would be even better as:
It is less stressful for a child to learn a foreign language than for an adult.
SamB
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