Throughout the lessons in this course, you have often seen the words por and para. Both of these words can have the meaning “for,” as well as many other meanings. Por and para are prepositions, words that establish a relationship between other words in a sentence. In general, por and para serve to relate words in terms of:
- time (for example, how long you do something for)
- direction (as in, where you are going)
- the mode or way you do something (for instance, what mode of transport you use)
- positions (for example, places you travel through or toward)
While both of these words can mean “for,” they are used in different contexts. The differences in how and when these two words are used can often be very confusing for non-native speakers of Spanish, but don’t worry, with time and practice, you will begin to gain a feel for when to use por and when to use para.
Por
Let’s begin with por. One very common usage of por is to relate the length of time of any type of activity. For instance, with por you may communicate how many hours you work in a day or how long you have lived in a certain city. Look and listen to the following examples that will illustrate how por establishes time relationships.
Por is also used to indicate time in another sense. It communicates during what part of the day you do something: morning, afternoon, or night. You can think of these expressions as the equivalent of “in the morning (or afternoon),” or “at night.”
Vicente siempre hace ejercicio por la mañana.- Nosotros nunca comemos por la noche.
- Me gusta estudiar por la tarde.
In addition to the above two uses related to time, por is used to mean “through” or “by/along.” If you walk through a certain neighborhood or park on your way to work, or if you pass through a city on your way to somewhere else, you will use por. Consider the following examples in order to gain a better sense of this usage.
Another very common usage of por is to indicate an economic exchange. This exchange may be how much you get paid per hour or how much you pay for something. So, if you are talking about an interchange of money, you will use por.
- Javier gana quince dólares por hora.
- Compro una docena de naranjas por tres dólares en el supermercado y por dos en la frutería.
- No nos gusta pagar demasiado por nuestra ropa.
- El Corte Inglés vende bufandas por 30 euros.
Por is also used to mean “by way of,” when you are talking about travel in terms of mode of transportation. If you want to tell someone that you travel by bus, train, plane, or car, you will use por.
| Pablito tiene miedo de viajar por avión. |
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| Mis padres prefieren viajar por carro. |
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| Es lindo viajar por tren porque puedes ver el paisaje. |
Foto: Gabriel Arango CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 |
Para
Now that you have seen some of the uses of por, we will consider the uses of para. One use that you have seen very frequently in the examples in this course is to communicate the idea of “in order to.” Look and listen to the following examples to see this usage of para.
Nosotros trabajamos para ganar dinero.
Quiero viajar a Latinoamérica para mejorar mi español.
¿Ustedes estudian tanto para sacar buenas notas o para aprender más?
Another common use of para is to indicate the recipient of an action. For example, if you are saying that someone does something for you (or for your benefit), or that something—an object or thing—is for you, then, you use para. So, for instance, if your boyfriend or girlfriend does your laundry for you, or if you ask someone if the gift he/she has in his/her hand is for your dad, you will express these statements with para. Read and listen to the following examples.
| Este regalo es para Marcos. |
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| A veces cocino para mi novio. |
The last use of para that you will learn in this lesson is to communicate a destination. Para is used to indicate that you are moving or going toward a place, which may be your office, your home, or another country. In this context, you will often see para with the verbs ir and salir.
There is no real “trick” to learning or knowing the differences between por and para, other than memorizing the uses you have just learned. As you hear more and more Spanish, you will gain better instincts as to how and when to use each one of these words. For the moment, the following chart will provide you with a brief summary of what each word is used to express.
| usos de por | usos de para |
|---|---|
| length of time/duration | in order to |
| time of day (at night, in the morning, etc.) | beneficiary |
| along/through a place | destination |
| price/economic change | |
| mode of transportation |
