Still not understanding por/para

Question

I've been studying Spanish for some time and feel fairly comfortable with most of the rules, but these still confuse me! I know some of the basic rules, but would love a list of examples for when por or para should be used. Thanks!

Answer 1

I have been speaking Spanish every day for the past 17 years and Í have lived in Mexico, conducted business presentations to senior executives of multi-billion dollar corporations, and taught classes, watched T.V., read newspapers and books in Spanish. I have a Mexican drivers license. I have held my own during hundreds of hours of Spanish conversations both drunk and sober, and I still don't know all of the times I should use por vs. para.

That makes me feel better! I feel that way with subjunctive, but still am hopeful for improvement ! - la-maestra-roja, Aug 16, 2010

mil gracias, sometimes it is so refreshing to hear something like that! we tend to beat ourselves up. - margaretbl, Aug 16, 2010

Haha! Loved your response! - Sheily, Aug 16, 2010

Love it! - --Mariana--, Aug 17, 2010

Even though Lazarus' answer below implies that it is learnable, I propose that it is VERY HARD. Like speaking without an accent. Little children can do it, but for adults it is nearly impossible. - petersenkid2, Aug 17, 2010

Answer 2

This shows how a important is to have a correct learning method, because native children rarely make any por/para mistake, and never make any mistake after they are 3 or 4 years old. The same goes for ser/estar and the use of subjunctive, which non-natives find it almost impossible to master. And yet, even educated natives keep making mistakes with other topics that many non-natives manage to master without much effort.

In por/para and ser/estar there are very specific uses that simply have to be memorized. For the rest, "por" refers to the path and "para" to the destination.

Using a rather metaphorical description:

Por la calle = your path

Para tu casa = your destination

Para ti = you are the destination

Por ti = I'm walking the path for you

Lazarus - I respect your understanding of the language tremendously, but your comment is self conflicting. You say how important it is to have a correct learning method, but give native toddlers as an example. Do Mexican 3 year olds have a ..... - petersenkid2, Aug 17, 2010

"correct learning method"? If you say that it is immersion, I''ve tried it. I really think there are substantial differnences in prepositions that are the hardest to learn. I work for a German company and I hear hundreds of people every month speaking - petersenkid2, Aug 17, 2010

English as a second language and less than 1/2 of 1% get all the prepositions right. - petersenkid2, Aug 17, 2010

Answer 3

I don't have quite as much experience in Spanish as Petersen, but I did go to elementary school in Spanish and study it at the AP level all through high school. I didn't usually think about it too much, and always did it by feel (which made it difficult to explain to others) but would sometimes be stumped by a certain case. I didn't think I would need the lesson on Por vs. Para by Paralee, but I watched it anyway, and she had a way of thinking about it that is a good rule of thumb I sometimes remember when I can't quite decide, and is something it's very easy to explain to someone who doesn't get the difference at all. It's best to hear her explain it, but para generally has to do with the goal or endpoint. At any rate, it relates to the end of the thing. All the thing son her little acronym for para can be seen as having to do with the end. And por has to do with things before (like causes) or involved in the event, happening during it. Anyway, I recommend her lesson, it was quite insightful. As I recall, she has a nice little diagram that goes with it. But I may be conflating it with something else I was looking at.

Just watched the Paralee vid. Good stuff. - petersenkid2, Aug 17, 2010