He is looking ... a present to buy my girlfriend

[Bob]

[Alan]

Hi Bob,

You're right. There is something missing and you have to choose from a,b,c or d. You have to choose 'for' from the list to complete the sentence.

Best wishes

Alan
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English as a Second Language
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[Alan]

Hi Bob,

Sorry I must be half asleep or half awake. I see the point you are making.
If we take the sentence: 'He is buying his girlfriend a present', we have two objects 'girlfriend' and 'present'. The first object is INDIRECT and the second is DIRECT. If you write them in that order, it's not necessary to add a preposition. If you write them is this order (DIRECT first and INDIRECT second), you need a preposition. The sentence then becomes: 'He is buying a present FOR his girlfriend.' In the sentence in the test, you have to imagine that the last part would read: 'looking for a present to buy his girlfriend a present ..' but it's not necessary to repeat 'present'. The object 'girlfriend' in the test sentence is still an indirect one. I hope this makes sense and my apologies for not understanding your point.

Best wishes

Alan
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English as a Foreign Language
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[Bob]

Thank you, Alan. Now I've understood that the sentence is fine without any preposition.

[Judith]

hi alan,

"I hope this makes sense and my apologies for not understanding your point."

i have a question to this sentence. how sounds it to you if i would say " take my apologies"??

wishes
judith

[Alan]

Hi Judith,

Thanks for your note. The expression: 'my apologies' is a shortened version of :'please ACCEPT my apologies for ....' The verb 'take' is not used in this context. The expression is often used when you arrive late at a meeting or some similar type of gathering and the business has already started. As you arrive and sit down you would simply say :'My apologies for being late.'

Regards

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story A Rhapsody of Words

[Judith]

sal? alan,

'my apologies' is a shortened version of :'please ACCEPT my apologies for ...

ok, i know that i think too much in my mother tongue..... !! leider ~~
is it allowed to ask you if you speak german too???

wishes
judith

[Alan]

Hi Judith,

You are certainly allowed to ask! I took my degree at Oxford in German and so I do understand the language. It is perfectly natural to think of another language in the framework of your own. The only way round this is to learn foreign words within a context and we hope that the tests help in this direction.

Best wishes

Alan
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English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms

[Judith]

voila, i'm doing my work
have a nice day
judith

[Unregistered]

Why can't it be at?
It answers the question What is he looking at?

He is looking at a present to buy his girl friend.

[Torsten]

Good question. If you look at something, you turn your eyes towards it so that you can see it.
If you are looking for something, you are trying to find it. So, you can only look at something that you have already found. In the sentence you are referring to, the person is still looking for a present, that means he hasn't found it yet and therefore can't be looking at it.
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary