This is the key for opening/to open the safe [with].

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navi tasan

Key Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
Persian
Home Country
Iran
Current Location
United States
Are these sentences correct?

1) This is the key for opening the safe.
2) This is the key to open the safe.
3) This is the key to open the safe with
 
The most elegant way of expressing what you (probably) mean is this:

This is the key to the safe.

The function/specific purpose of the key is perfectly clear. If you start adding words, or changing the grammar, you mess with the meaning. If you add the verb 'open', for example, you could create the possibility that there is another key, whose function is to close the safe. Adding extra prepositions, like 'for' and 'with' can be a sure way to confuse, complicate, and obscure meaning.
 
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