Spanish POR vs PARA: rules and exercises

In this article, we will be looking at one of the most confusing aspects of the Spanish language: the use of fearsome prepositions por vs para. Differences are slight and very much imperceptible, but por vs para rules do exist.

HOW TO USE POR AND PARA

Here’s important to keep certain facts in mind. One thing is motivation, and a different one is purpose. You could wonder: how? Motivation sounds like where we come from, while purpose is more like where we go to. 

POR VS PARA:

• We mostly use por when it comes to motivations, while para refers more to goals.

Haré esto por ti (I’ll do this for you).

• The person you are doing anything for is someone you care about or you feel responsible for.

Donaré el dinero por ti, para que no vuelvas a pasar hambre (I’ll donate the money for you, so that you won’t be hungry ever again).

• You GoFund an important amount of money for someone you feel the urge to protect, help, save, you name it, with the goal of helping him or her. But also:

Haré este GoFundMe para la Fundación de Ciegos= I’ll GoFund the blind. 

GoFunding the blind becomes the goal, the money has a destination.

• Por can at times be interchangeable with durante (regardless of the fact we’d rather use the latter):

Vivió en Canarias por el resto de su vida (He/she lived in the Canary Islands for the rest of his/her life).

• As you can see, the duration may be not expressed in exact or countable terms. You may also say:

Vivió en Canarias durante diez años (He/she lived in the Canary Islands during ten years).

• Instead, when we refer to Canarias as a destination:

Cogí el ultimo vuelo para las Canarias (I took the last flight to the Canary Islands).

• Also, a message can have a receiver:

Hay un mensaje para ti (There’s a message to you). 

• You may express personal convictions using either por or para.  If you make a choice about a previously stated situation, it takes the places of si fuera por mí (if it was up to me):

Por mí, lo que hagas está bien (Whatever you do is OK for me = it works for me, I’m OK with it. I choose to the other’s decision).

Por María, no te preocupes (As to Maria, do not worry).

• However, expressing an opinion implies the use of para:

Para la mayoría, fue una locura enviar a los soldados a esa batalla (According to most people, sending the soldiers to that battle was madness/nonsense).

• If you are a professional cyclist:

El Tour pasa por Bilbao (The Tour goes by Bilbao).

• But it may be that Bilbao is the arrival point of a Tour’s stage:

Los ciclistas van para Bilbao y allí descansan un par de días (The cyclist go to Bilbao and they stay there for a couple of days).

POR CAN ALSO EXPRESS 

– The means or tool:

• Podemos resolver este asunto por teléfono (We can work this out over a phone call) 

– Interchange: 

• Te cambio mi Ferrari por tu Twingo (I swap my Ferrari for your Twingo) 

– Approximate location:

• ¿Hay un baño público por aquí? (Is there a restroom around/over here?) 

– Moment of the day:

• Nos ejercitamos por la mañana (We work out in the morning) 

– Periodicity:

• Tenemos clases de español dos veces por semana (We have Spanish classes twice a week) 

But remember that deadlines are expressed by para:

• Para mañana, debes haber comenzado los ejercicios de rehabilitación (You must have started with you rehabilitation exercises by tomorrow) 

We also use para for a period about to be complete in an ongoing event:

• Va para dos semanas desde que comenzamos las clases de español (It will be two weeks since we began Spanish classes) 

Let’s make sure we have made this por vs para question clear once and for all with this short por vs para quiz. 

POR VS PARA QUIZ

Time is Up!

Time's up

Follow us on YouTube and Facebook!