"Provide to" or "provide with"

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Which of the following is more correct to say:

“We choose the processor that can provide to the task the earliest start time”

OR

“We choose the processor that can provide the task with the earliest start time”

When should I use “provide to” and when “provide with”?

Until recently, I used only “provide with”. But it seems that “provide to” is more appropriate sometimes.For example, the sentence " being clear about the service you provide to customers" which is used on this site:

fsa.gov.uk/pages/Doing/small … vice.shtml

Many thanks in advance.

2

Hi,

I would suggest that ‘provide to/for’ has the sense of offering or making available to/for. In that sense it would be unusual to use it when referring to an inanimate object.

We would use ‘provide’ in these ways:

I will provide you with enough evidence to prove that I am right.

This supermarket provides a special service to parents so that they can shop while someone looks after their children.

Alan