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Is there a difference between "convenient for you" and "convenient to you"? And if it is, could you explain it?

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As well as the most common sense of convenient (i.e. suiting you, not causing you time or trouble), there is the related sense of close, near-by, as in "We stopped at a convenient gas-station" or "He picked up a convenient rock". While the phrase convenient for you is much the more common of the two, it could be that convenient to you is more likely to be used with this second sense.

Here are some examples from a quick search:

  • Call the office most convenient to you.
  • Choose a venue convenient to you.
  • Kindly select a branch convenient to you.
  • Visit our contact page to find a location that is convenient to you.
  • Find a kitchen centre most convenient to you.
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Great! Thank you! Very clear explanation. – Anton Moiseev Jan 29 '12 at 13:55
I dispute that "for you" is more common. This appears to be true when comparing the two three-word phrases on NGram, but that will include irrelevant things like "It will be convenient for you to [do something]", where there's an implied "convenient to us". But "a time convenient to you" is more common than "a time convenient for you", and I don't think there will be many "false positives" with that wording – FumbleFingers Jan 29 '12 at 16:41
The impersonal expression it is convenient for you is 10 times more common (151,000) in Bing than it is convenient to you (15,000). The corresponding negative expressions have similar proportions: for - 4,000 as against to - a mere 13. However, when convenient is preceded by a noun, the reverse seems to be the case, although the numbers are much closer together. Location, date, time + convenient + to are more common than the same expressions with for. So in general it seems that to is much more likely with convenient following a noun than in an impersonal expression. – Shoe Jan 29 '12 at 17:10
Interestingly, though, a place convenient for you is 4 times more common than a place convenient to you. – Shoe Jan 29 '12 at 17:12

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