Gěi can indeed mark a benefactive noun phrase, like how the English preposition for does, as in I cooked for you. The Chinese translation of this sentence would be wǒ gěi nǐ zhǔ fàn. Here, you are the one who benefits from the cooking, hence nǐ is a benefactive noun phrase. But note that the usage of gěi is not necessarily equivalent to other usages of English for, such as in for ten minutes.
