10. Por and para

For the English word “for”, there are two Spanish words, por and para. In order to understand which one to use, you must think of their meaning and use in a sentence. Generally speaking, para indicates purpose or intention (¿Para qué? For what purpose?), whereas por expresses motivation or substitution (¿Por qué? For what reason?).

Uses of PARA:

  1. Destination:
    • Mañana salgo para Helsinki. I’m leaving for Helsinki tomorrow.
  2. Intended use:
    • Este regalo es para ti. This present is for you.
  3. Deadline:
    • Tiene que estar listo para el lunes.I need it ready by Monday.
  4. Purpose:
    • Fui a Irlanda para mejorar mi inglés. I went to Ireland in order to improve my English.
  5. Contrasting:
    • Para ser extranjera, hablas muy bien el finés. For a foreigner, you speak Finnish very well.
  6. Opinion:
    • Para mí, mirar la tele es una pérdida de tiempo.To me, watching TV is a waste of time.
  7.  Actions soon to be completed:
    • Está para salir. He’s about to leave.

Uses of POR:

  1. Reason:
    • Cerramos la ventana por la lluvia. We closed the window because of the rain.
  2. Movement through space:
    • Un globo entró por la ventana. A balloon came in through the window.
  3. Duration of time:
    • Trabajé en Argentina por 2 meses. I have worked in Argentina for 2 months.
  4. Exchange:
    • Te doy 500 dólares por esta moto. I’ll give you 500 dollars for this motorcycle.
  5. On behalf of/In favour of:
    • Lo hago por ti. I’m doing this for you.
  6. Agent in passive phrases:
    • Esta zona no fue afectada por la sequia. This area wasn’t affected by drought.
  7. Idiomatic expressions,
    • such as: por fin – finally, por supuesto – of course, por lo tanto – therefore, etc.

Note the difference in meaning between the following examples:

Lo compré por ella.

I bought it because of her (because she wanted me to).

Lo compré para ella.

I bought it for her (in order to give it to her).

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