Lo siento por...
Hola a todos
Pienso que he recordado por último la regla (esta regla eres de un libro de consulta) que lo que dice a usar "por" si quiero dar gracias a una persona. Por favor, digame si esos frases son correctos y si son correctos cúal es la diferencia de los dos:
Gracias por la ayuda
Gracias para ayudarme
Hello to everybody
I think that I have finally remembered the rule (this rule is from a reference book) that says to use "por"if I want to give thanks to a person. Please tell me if these frases are correct and if they are correct, what is the difference between them:
Thank you for the help
Thank you for helping me
¿Tengo razón?
Am I right?
8 Answers
Gracias por la ayuda
Thanks because your helped. "Por" is used to say why you do things, and here, you are explaining why you are thanking the other person.
Gracias para ayudarme
Thanks to help me ???? "Para" is used to indicate who receives your "thanks"; in this case, the recipient of your gratitude is... Mr. help me.
"Por" is not used "to give thanks", but to indicate why you do things, in this sentence, and in many others.
Thank you for the help
Thank you for helping me
Both correct, but both of them are "por" in Spanish. You are using "for" to explain why you say thanks, and you are using the noun "help" in the first sentence, and a gerund (which behaves like a noun) in the second.
for - 1) used to indicate why something is done - 2) used to indicate the person or thing toward which feelings, thoughts, etc., are directed
Merriam-Webster's dictionary
The first one is "por"; the second is "para".
Gracias para ti [I feel like I have heard this before, but I could be wrong]
I would essentially be saying that My gratitude will end up in your possession
Ok, the reasoning is good, and that's how you would interpret it... in general. However, "gracias" is a short for:
Te doy las gracias por.... (whatever)
That "te" in an indirect object, and it means that if you want to say "a ti", and not "para ti" (and "Te doy las gracias a ti" sounds unnecessarily repetitive). When you say "Gracias", we mean implicitly "I thank you" (or, more literally, "I give you thanks"). If you add "para ti", it would sound like "I thank you for you" (or, more literally, "I give you thanks to you"), which is not wrong grammatically speaking, but... hehe. You say "I thank you for...", and we say "Te doy las gracias por...". In both cases, you are saying why you are thanking the other person, and not who will receive your thanks, since it is implicitly understood that it is the person you are talking to.
If you need to give your thanks indirectly, then say:
Dale las gracias a [person] por...
Gracias por la ayuda 
However, "gracias" is a short for:
Te doy las gracias por.... (whatever)
That "te" in an indirect object, and it means that if you want to say "a ti", and not "para ti"
This made all the difference. It makes a lot more sense to me now that I know what the long form of gracias is.
Hi Lazarus, thank you for being so patient with me on this
Let me just make sure that I am not misunderstanding this
"Para ti" means that something will end up in your possession.
So if I were to say
Gracias para ti [I feel like I have heard this before, but I could be wrong]
I would essentially be saying that My gratitude will end up in your possession
or possibly My thanks to you
Is this correct?
Would this be proper to say, since the thanks itself is actually what is being given to the person and you are not necessarily specifying what it is that you are thanking them for?
I think that I am confused because I was instructed once (perhaps erroneously) to always use para before an infinitive in order to express an action that has already been completed.
Was this bad advice or have I simply misinterpreted it?
I don't know, but it is wrong. The main use of "para" is indicate what's the final place, person, goal... in your sentence. "Para ti" means that something will end up in your possession. "Voy para allá" means that you will end up there. "Para ganar" means that you will end up winning. If you say "Gracias por ayudarme", you are saying that your thanks will end up in... "ayudarme" (????).
In Spanish, if you can use a noun, normally you can also use an infinitive, because infinitives behave as nouns. The choice of preposition has nothing to do with using infinitives or not. In "para Juan", the word "Juan" is a name, so you can replace it with an infinitive: "para comer".
I don't quite understand why the rules says "... to express an action that has already been completed."
Anyway, this is how you translate your sentences accurately:
Thank you for the help = Gracias por la ayuda
Thank you for helping me = Gracias por ayudarme
As you can see, "help" is "ayuda", and they are both nouns. In English, "helping" is a gerund, and "ayudar" is an infinitive; both behave like nouns in their own language.
Thanks Lazarus
One more quick question if you don't mind
Both correct, but both of them are "por" in Spanish.
I believe (and correct me if I am wrong), that you are telling me to use "por" for both sentences so that
Gracias para ayudarme [incorrect]
becomes
Gracias por ayudarme [correct]
I think that I am confused because I was instructed once (perhaps erroneously) to always use para before an infinitive in order to express an action that has already been completed.
Was this bad advice or have I simply misinterpreted it?
Which do I use if I want to think of it as thanks in exchange for help?
"A cambio de" (literally, "in exchange of")
I really hate those little hints like "because of". They're harder to memorize than the context itself. Which do I use if I want to think of it as "thanks in exchange for help"?
