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In Spanish, the two prepositions por and para usually mean for, but in a few cases may have other meanings. This has puzzled and frustrated Spanish students forever. Even advanced students have a tendency to confuse them sometimes. Here's a rundown of the most common rules for their usage:
You use para to
- Express a recipient: Esta carta es para Ud. (This letter is for you.)
- Express a purpose or a goal: Leo para relajarme. (I read [in order] to relax.)
- Express a time in the future: Es el horario para mañana. (It's tomorrow's schedule.)
- Express an opinion: Para mí, esta casa es perfecta. (For me, this house is perfect.)
- Express a destination: Ella va para la oficina. (She's heading for the office.)
You use por to
- Express the preposition through: Anduve por el bosque. (I walked through the forest.)
- Express the duration of an action: Estudié por dos horas. (I studied for two hours.)
- Express a means of transportation: Viajaron por avión. (They traveled by airplane.)
- Express doing something for someone: Lo hizo por su mejor amigo. (He did it for his best friend.)
- Perform multiplication: Dos por dos son cuatro. (Two times two is four.)
 | You also use por in the following adverbial expressions: |
- por eso (therefore, so): Trabaja mucho y por eso gana mucho dinero. (He works a lot and therefore he earns a lot of money.)
- por lo general (generally): Por lo general me acuesto a las diez. (Generally I go to bed at 10 o'clock.)
- por supuesto (of course): ¿Puede Ud. ayudarme? ¡Por supuesto! (Can you help me? Of course!)
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