What’s the difference between POR and PARA? – Learn how to deal with these Spanish prepositions

In this Spanish video lesson you will learn how to finally use the prepositions POR and PARA. I explain what the main differences and uses between the two are and also use many common phrases as examples. When you learn Spanish these two prepositions are simply unavoidable and it can present difficulties to master them but I explain them as simple as possible so you can better understand them since they are in the TOP 10 of the most used words in the Spanish language. It’s a Spanish class for beginners or advance students that need to freshen up a bit on POR and PARA so you can start and/or improve on your learning experience from this beautiful language.

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When we use POR in Spanish most of the time we’re thinking of a reason, a motive and when we use PARA we’re thinking of a goal or purpose.

With POR you can talk about a reason for something, that’s why the question “why?” is “?Por qué? In Spanish and the word “because” is “porque”. Now when you use the preposition POR alone one of its main meanings is “BECAUSE OF”

In Spanish we use POR ….
1- When you need to say: “BECAUSE OF…”
2- To talk about the duration of a period of time.
3- To talk about a period of time during the day.
4- To express prepositions of place such as “around, through, by, close to…”
5- To use the latin preposition PER just like it is used in English.
6- To talk about the means by which you travel or do certain activities.
7- To say how often you do something
8- To say “for example” = POR EJEMPLO.

Here are some sentences as example with POR:

Estoy cocinando por ti. (I’m cooking because of you.)

You also need POR in order to talk about the duration of a period of time:
(Yo) He estudiado español por tres meses. (I have studied Spanish
for 3 months.)

POR EJEMPLO means for example and that is an expression that we say with the preposition POR

To talk about a period of time during the day:
Yo estudio por la(s) mañana(s) (I study in the morning.)
Tú trabajas por la tarde (You work in the afternoon.)
(Yo) viajo por la noche. (I travel by night.)

POR is also a preposition of place to express if you’re either going through, passing by or are around a certain place:
Yo vivo por el parque (I live around the park.)
Yo entré a casa por la ventana. (I went inside the house through the window.)

POR can also be used in Spanish in the same way that the preposition PER is used in English:
El precio es $40 dólares por persona. (The Price is $40 per person.)

You need PARA in order to…
1-To talk about the purpose or goal of something. What is that for? (?PARA QUE es eso?
2-You can also combine it with a non conjugated verb. PARA cocinar (to cook/for cooking)
3-To express who is the recipient of something.
4-To say for when something is due.
5-To express the destination in which you’re going.
6-To express your opinion.

Here are some sentences as example with PARA:

You will mostly need the Spanish preposition PARA when you are talking about a purpose or goal. What for? What are you doing that for?!!
¿Para qué estás hacienda eso?
¿Para que es este aceite? (What is this oil for?)
Este aceite es para cocinar. (This oil is for cooking.)
Este libro es para aprender español. (This book is to learn Spanish.)
Necesitas un trabajo para ganar dinero. (You need a job in order to earn money.)

Also to indicate a recipient:
Este regalo es PARA ti. (This gift is for you.)
Esta comida es PARA mi mamá. (This food is for my mom.)

When it comes to time you can use PARA to say for when something is:
La tarea es para mañana. (The homework is for tomorrow.)
Necesito el reporte para el Lunes. (I need the report for Monday.)

When talking about places in Spanish you can express the direction you’re going, your destination with PARA:

Voy para la casa. (I’m going home / to the house.)
Vamos para la Playa (We’re going to the beach.)

Last for not least, we also use PARA to express our opinions:
Para mí, la tarea está correcta. (For me, in my opinion, the homework is correct.)
Para Juana, la comida sabe mal (According to Juana, the food tastes bad.)

Muchas gracias!

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