This construction describes events in which someone does something for something else; more specifically, someone (the Benefactor) creates, transforms, or obtains something (the Theme) with the intention of letting another person (the Benefactee) have it. In some cases, the Benefactee does not literally enter in possession of the Theme, but merely enjoys the benefits of the Benefactor's action. This construction is mostly used with verbs of creation (cook, make, knit) and verbs of acquisition (buy, get, book, order, find). It is very productive within these two classes, in that any verb of this kind can potentially be used in the construction. However, other types of verbs can occasionally be attested.

Reserving reserve E.g. None book E.g. I've booked us a cruise on the Aurora! Request_entity order E.g. I ordered you a big breakfast. Locating find E.g. They found me a deal with Royal Bank of Scotland. Getting get E.g. A friend got me the job in the gallery. Cutting cut E.g. He cut himself a fat slice. Creating knit E.g. I knitted my husband Colin a sweater with his name on the front. make E.g. I made myself a crab sandwich. Cooking_creation cook E.g. He's going to cook her a gourmet dinner. fix E.g. I fixed him a special meal. Commerce_buy buy E.g. Hill bought her a guitar for her birthday. Cause_to_make_noise play E.g. He would play me a lot of songs he had written. Cause_to_amalgamate mix E.g. He mixed her a brandy and soda. Cause_fluidic_motion pour E.g. The bishop of Jerusalem pours me a snifter of brandy. Lexical items without a frame: sing E.g. Dan Aykroyd sang her an a cappella version of Autumn Leaves.