给
gěi
Out of my hand, into yours: 给
The picture Something leaving your hand and crossing over toward the other person's. 给 crosses from my side to yours; 要 pulls what is on your side back over to mine.
Where the picture shows up in 给
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hand to hand
麻烦把菜单给我。
máfan bǎ càidān gěi wǒ
Could I have the menu?
The menu leaving the waiter's hand, crossing the table, and landing in your palm
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aimed across at you
我明天给你打电话。
wǒ míngtiān gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà
I'll call you tomorrow.
Your voice leaving your mouth and travelling down the line to the other person's ear
Here 给 isn't 'give' at all — it marks the direction, 'toward you'.
-
set down on your side
这个是给你的。
zhège shì gěi nǐ de
This one's for you.
A wrapped box sliding away from your place setting and coming to rest at theirs
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made for your side
我给孩子做了饭。
wǒ gěi háizi zuò le fàn
I cooked dinner for the kids.
The rice you cooked going into a bowl and being pushed across to the child's seat
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it got away from you
杯子给打破了。
bēizi gěi dǎpò le
The cup went and got broken.
A cup slipping out of your hand, leaving it entirely, and breaking on the floor
This 给 sits where 被 would. It's colloquial and carries a shrug — it left my hands and happened.
All of it in one picture
给 is one arrow: something crossing from my side to yours. An object crosses hand to hand and it is giving; a voice crosses to your ear and it is calling you; a box comes to rest on your side and it is yours. The meal I cooked crosses to the child and it was cooked for them; and when the cup leaves my hands altogether, 给 carries that rueful note of it having got away. So whenever you see 给, draw the line from this side to that side.