{"id":36600,"date":"2024-09-30T15:06:39","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T13:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/?p=36600"},"modified":"2024-09-25T15:21:48","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T13:21:48","slug":"difference-between-por-and-para","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/blog\/difference-between-por-and-para.html","title":{"rendered":"Difference between &#8220;por&#8221; and &#8220;para&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For many students, <\/span><b>one of the trickiest parts of learning Spanish is understanding when to use \u201cpor\u201d and \u201cpara\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. If you look up each of these words in the Spanish-English dictionary, you\u2019ll find that they have various different meanings but that the primary one is \u201cfor\u201d. Despite this, there is a big difference between \u201cpor\u201d and \u201cpara\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this blog post, we\u2019ll work through a few <\/span><b>key tips for \u201cpor\u201d vs \u201cpara\u201d in Spanish<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, so that you can better understand which one to opt for in different situations. If you want to know <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/blog\/speak-spanish-fluently.html\"><b>how to learn to speak Spanish fluently<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it\u2019s vital to understand when to use \u201cpor\u201d and when to use \u201cpara\u201d, so let\u2019s get started!<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>When to use \u201cpor\u201d in Spanish<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s start off with \u201cpor\u201d in this guide for when to use \u201cpor\u201d vs \u201cpara\u201d in Spanish. With \u201cpor\u201d, it is primarily used in the following ways:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To refer to <\/span><b>motion <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Eg, I am walking through the park \/ Estoy caminando por el parque)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To refer to <\/span><b>duration<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Eg, I studied for four hours last night \/ Estudi\u00e9 por cuatro horas anoche)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To refer to <\/span><b>methods of exchange<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Eg, I paid 5 euros for the sandwich \/ Pagu\u00e9 5 euros por el bocadillo)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To refer to the <\/span><b>motivation for something<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Eg, I\u2019d do anything for you \/ Har\u00eda lo que sea por ti)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To refer to how something is achieved (Eg, I reserved a table at the restaurant by email \/ Reserv\u00e9 una mesa en el restaurante por correo electr\u00f3nico)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>When to use \u201cpara\u201d in Spanish<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, let\u2019s move on to the main uses for \u201cpara\u201d, which is primarily used in these following ways:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To refer to a <\/span><b>destination<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Eg, I leave for London tomorrow \/ Me voy para Londres ma\u00f1ana)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To refer to a <\/span><b>recipient<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Eg, This letter is for you \/ Esta carta es para ti)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To refer to a <\/span><b>deadline<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Eg, I need it by tomorrow \/ Lo necesito para ma\u00f1ana)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To refer to a <\/span><b>purpose<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Eg, I go to the gym to stay fit \/ Voy al gimnasio para mantenerme en forma)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Two key differences between \u201cpor\u201d and \u201cpara\u201d in Spanish<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, just because you\u2019ve seen some examples of \u201cpor\u201d and \u201cpara\u201d, it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you suddenly know how to use \u201cpor\u201d and \u201cpara\u201d in Spanish consistently. Whether you\u2019re taking <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/spanish\/online\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">online Spanish classes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or even <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/spanish\/courses\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spanish courses in Madrid<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, that will come with practice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, before you go off and practice and learn from the age-old process of making mistakes, here are two more key tips which help to explain the fundamental difference between \u201cpor\u201d and \u201cpara\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Firstly,<\/span><b> think about \u201cpor\u201d as being the reason for something, while \u201cpara\u201d is the purpose<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. These may seem like similar concepts, yet there is a difference. In this scenario, think of \u201cpor\u201d along the lines of \u201cbecause of\u201d and \u201cpara\u201d as \u201cin order to\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Secondly, when you\u2019re using these terms to describe relationships between people and things, <\/span><b>\u201cpor\u201d usually refers to the person who did something, while \u201cpara\u201d is used to explain who the thing was done for<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see both \u201cpor\u201d and \u201cpara\u201d used this way with the following examples: \u201cThis book was written by my mother and I bought a copy for her \/ Este libro fue escrito por mi madre y compr\u00e9 una copia para ella.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>How to use \u201cpor\u201d and \u201cpara\u201d in set phrases<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>There are also a number of set phrases which include either \u201cpor\u201d or \u201cpara\u201d in them<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and it\u2019s also important to learn these. Here are a few of them:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Por favor = Please\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Por ejemplo = For example\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Para siempre = Forever\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Por fin = Finally\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Por supuesto = Of course\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Para que = So that\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Por que = Why<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you break them down, many of these little expressions do follow the same rules as above, in terms of what they convey. The good news with these phrases is that they are so common that you should easily pick them up, even while you\u2019re still getting to grips with the difference between \u201cpor\u201d and \u201cpara\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For many students, one of the trickiest parts of learning Spanish is understanding when to use \u201cpor\u201d and \u201cpara\u201d. If you look up each of these words in the Spanish-English dictionary, you\u2019ll find that they have various different meanings but that the primary one is \u201cfor\u201d. Despite this, there is a big difference between \u201cpor\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1080,"featured_media":36602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[973,583,904],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spanish-courses-in-madrid","category-spanish-programs","category-spanish-school-madrid"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1080"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36600"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36605,"href":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36600\/revisions\/36605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ihmadrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}