Libros para empezar a escribir

Question

Saw this sign. I know it means to say "Books to help you learn to write" but I don't get how it makes sense like this, without the "to help" part included. Gracias.

Answer 1

As I understand it, in this case "para" indicates what the goal or purpose is -- so, if you want to start learning to write, this is the book for that. i.e., "Books for beginning to write." The "help" part is implied.

Sure I understand para for purpose, but I still see this as "Books whose purpose is beginning to write". I don't see "helping you" no matter how I look at it. Libros para aprender escribir or libros para enseñarse escribir I would get right off. - jeezzle, Oct 23, 2010

jeezzle I think you're trying to take this too literally and shoehorn in the word-for-word English phrase. It's "Books for beginning to write". You can embelish it in English if you want, but the embelishments aren't necessarily there in Spanish. - KevinB, Oct 23, 2010

Answer 2

I think soninmyeyes hit the nail on the head. if you saw a sign in English that said,

Books For Car Repair

you'd probably assume that they were books for learning how to repair your car. Here I'd say that "Books for Beginning to Write" are books for learning how to begin to write.