buy to vs buy for

The phrases 'buy to' and 'buy for' are not directly comparable as they serve different purposes. 'Buy to' is used to express the purpose or intention behind a purchase, while 'buy for' is used to indicate the recipient of the purchase. Both phrases are correct in their respective contexts.

Last updated: March 24, 2024

buy to

The phrase 'buy to' is correct and commonly used in English to express the purpose or intention behind a purchase.

You can use 'buy to' when you want to explain the reason or goal for making a purchase. For example, 'I buy books to improve my English skills.'

Examples:

I buy organic food to stay healthy.
She buys flowers to decorate her house.
They buy tools to fix things around the house.
He buys gifts to show appreciation.
We buy tickets to attend the concert.

Show examples from the web [+]

There are plenty of things you can buy to help you get a good workout at home.
That is a Guinea pig David and Bryan well-meaningly told me to go out and buy to fool you into thinking it was Marshmallow.
Are we walking to best buy to get a better phone?
Anyway, I just can't buy to...
As something that you can buy to show status and privilege.
That it's all just stuff we buy to stick in our big holes.
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, European consumers expect the products they buy to enjoy better safety protection.
That's where the fancy things are, the ones the rich kids buy to make the others jealous.
The authorisation of such imports would have an adverse impact on EU poultry producers and also on consumers, who expect the products they buy to be safe and to meet high quality standards.
Tae Gong Sil, how much beer should I buy to put in there?
How many buildings did your mom have to buy to make that happen?
Finally, I believe that the labelling requirement for non-textile parts of animal origin is a sign of real progress as it is consumers who do not want the textile products they buy to contain such materials.
It is also we consumers who have to ensure that the protection of intellectual property rights is guaranteed, because we want the products we buy to be original and authentic and we do not want to be deceived by people who violate intellectual property rights.
When you left the buy to bring the cargo to me, did you do a heat run?
When you left the buy to bring the cargo to me, did you do a heat run?
I just bought a memory stick at Best Buy to back up my laptop.
We were on our way to best buy To get in line for the release of the new everearth.
The tobacco giants hired some of the best lobbyists money could buy to fight this legislation every step of the way, but the European Parliament was not for turning.
So, basically, whereas Secor previously spent their money on local print and radio, we increase the network buy to 30%, more points for each dollar.

Alternatives:

purchase to
acquire to
get to

buy for

The phrase 'buy for' is correct and commonly used in English to indicate the recipient of a purchase.

You can use 'buy for' when you want to specify who the purchase is intended for. For example, 'I bought this gift for my friend.'