Easy Way to Learn Por Vs Para

The only guide you'll need

Por vs para

Rob Ashby

The Spanish Obsessive

Por andpara are the bane of many a Spanish student's life. Why? Simply put, both of these words can translate to "for" in English. Just like the Spanish subjunctive and the concept of gender, concepts which don't directly correspond to English can be tough to grasp. In this guide, we'll explore the underlying meaning ofpor vs para, we'll look at their unique uses, and we'll provide plenty of exercises so that you can go forth into the world with no fear…

A quick history lesson

It's worth remembering thatpor was first on the scene. This came from the Latinpro, meaning "for", "on behalf of". It's thought thatpara was then formed from the originalpor + a.

Aside from being an interesting factoid, this helps us to understand a little about the difference between these words:

We could say that para is por + direction towards

This is the first concept that will help you understand these two words.

Por vs para in one image

Here's another key that will help you understand this concept:

This image was first used by Whitley and González, in "Gramática para la composición", 2000 (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press)

Por takes us "through", and "among". It's vague

Para takes us "toward" some goal. It's definite

As we work through the various uses and sentences of por and para, remember the above visualisation, and try to fit in those meanings with this concept.

3 key uses of por and para

This image will help us as we look at por and para in three dimensions: Location, time, and people/things:

1. Location

This is the easiest to understand, as our image is very helpful in visualising the difference between these two prepositions. Por indicates going "through", "around", "across", and other variations; para focuses on the destination, and could be translated as "towards", "to", and similar:

Por	Para
Vamos por* las calles de la ciudad* "We're goingalongthe streets of the city"	Voy para tu casa "I'm goingto (towards) your house"
El agua está por todo el suelo "The water's all over (allaround) the floor"	El agua va para el cuarto "The water's goingtowardsthe bedroom"
Está por aquí "It'saroundhere"

2. Time

With time, por takes us "through" time, so becomes duration (for five days, for example). With para we're going "towards" some goal – an endpoint or deadline:

Por	Para
*Por* la tarde "During the afternoon"	Lo quiero para la tarde "I want itfor this afternoon" (indicating a deadline)
Se quedó con nosotros *por* cinco días "He/she stayed with usforfive days"

3. People and things

This is where it gets a little trickier. It's easiest to think ofpara as the "goal", andpor covering everything else. We could think ofpara as "for the benefit of", andpor as "because of", or "in exchange for". Let's look at some examples:

Por	Para
Lo hice *por* ti "I did itbecause ofyou"	Lo hice *para* ti "I did itfor you (for your benefit)"
Necesito mucho dinero *por* mi carro "I need a lot of moneyin exchange for my car" OR "I need a lot of moneybecause of my car"	Necesito mucho dinero *para* mi carro "I need a lot of moneyfor my car" (i.e, the car will benefit from my money)

Uses of para

Remember the image? Para generally denotes direction towards a goal:

Purpose, destination, intention ("in order to"):

Es para ti: It's for you
Para hacerlo, tienes que… To do it, you have to…

"Towards"
Vamos para la casa: We're going home (towards home)

Express opinions
Para mi, no es buena idea: For me, it's not a good idea

With time phrases:
Tienes que estar listo para las 4pm: You have to be ready for/by 4pm

Para can be used before verbs, meaning "in order to…" (or, effectively, just "to"):

Para hacerlo bien:[In order] to do it well

Para llegar, tienes que tomar el bus:[In order] to arrive, you have to take the bus

Uses of por

Por, as we saw in the image, shows direction through, via, and among. It is generally a bit vaguer than para, and can often be replaced by other prepositions (such as hacia, entre, durante, etc). Therefore, por has a wider range of uses than para:

Because of:

Eso pasó por tu culpa:That happened because of your fault
Por eso…That's why ("because of that")

In exchange for:
Te cambio este por otro :I'll change you this one for another

"By" a person:
100 años de soledad fue escrito por Gabriel Garcia Marquez:100 Years of Solitude was written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"By" a type of transport:
Por avion: By plane

"By means of":
Por telefono: By phone
Por la radio: Over the radio

"Along" and "through":
Vamos por la calle:We're going along the street
Está por aquí…It's around/through here

"For the sake of":
Por molestar: For the sake of annoying [someone]

Comer por comer:To eat for the sake of eating

Periods of the day:
Por la noche: At night/during the night
Por la tarde:In/during the afternoon

"For" a period of time:
Por 2 horas:For 2 hours
Por un momento: For a moment

Por is also used after a lot of verbs:

Comenzar por: To start with
Preguntar por: To ask about
Votar por: To vote for

We won't go into all of these verbs in this guide, but it's worth remembering that unlike por, para rarely follows a verb.

Phrases which illustrate the difference between por and para

Spanish learners often get confused when they hear por and para used with the same words. Looking at these phrases really shows the difference in meaning between por and para:

Por qué vs para qué

Por qué means "because of what" (or, more commonly, "why"), whereas para qué means "to do what" (or, "in order to what…?"). These are similar, but there is an important difference.

Por mí vs para mí

Por mí best translates as "because of me" (although, this depends on the context); para mí means "for me" (i.e. "for my benefit")

Este tren va por Castellón vs este tren va para Castellón

Este tren va por Castellón means "this train goes via Castellón"; este tren va para Castellón indicates the goal, or endpoint, so means "this train goes to [ie, its destination is] Castellón".

Exercises

Try these exercises to check your por vs para mastery!

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Easy Way to Learn Por Vs Para

The only guide you'll need

Por vs para

Rob Ashby

A quick history lesson

Por vs para in one image

3 key uses of por and para

2. Time

3. People and things

Uses of para

Uses of por

Phrases which illustrate the difference between por and para

Exercises

Quiz Summary

Information

Results

Results

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