Use of 'para' for "to do". Why?

Question

Toda mi energía se ha agotado. Estoy demasiada cansada hacer la ropa para lavar la ropa.

All my energy has been used up. I am too tired to do the laundry.

I am not sure I understand why "to do the laundry" is translated "para lavar la ropa". I understand the "lavar la ropa" part but not the use of "para" to mean to do. Any feedback or links would be appreciated. I did see the reference article but didn't see anything about "to do" and para. Gracias.

Oh, I see more clearly. I was only seeing "in order to" but Spanish implies the "do" part; "in order to do". And also the use of "for" before "to wash" as per webdunce? ¡Gracias, todo el mundo! - bandit51jd, Jun 5, 2011

Answer 1

The preposition "para" points towards the end of the line: a goal, a recipient, a destination, a purpose,... It is the "in the end" preposition by excellence.

Toda mi energía se ha agotado. Estoy demasiada cansada hacer la ropa para lavar la ropa.

Maybe others haven't noticed, but your sentence has another mistake. It should be:

Estoy demasiado cansada para lavar la ropa.

Why "para"? Because that's your end result, your outcome, what will be in the end...

I am not sure I understand why "to do the laundry" is translated "para lavar la ropa".

That "to" in "To do the laundry" is a "joker" (if you play cards) in English, because it has lots of different uses, while Spanish tends to be more precise in this case. In "I hate to do the laundry", you just hate an activity, but you are not talking about any outcomes, so in Spanish you'd use an infinitive. In "I love to do the laundry", there is no outcome either, for example. However, in "I'm too tired to...", whatever follows is the potential outcome, which in Spanish is signalled with "para", the preposition that indicates outcomes (or expected outcomes).

I´ll try and remember that ´para´ is the end result, or the goal, or the end of the line. Muchas gracias, lazarus! - bandit51jd, Jun 5, 2011

Good info! - webdunce, Jun 6, 2011

Answer 2

Para = for

There is an old construction in English that uses "for" in the same way. You may have come across it a few times...maybe in some high school reading assignments or something.

I am too tired for to wash the clothes.

This is the way I generally think of para in these constructions.

English of a few centuries ago has a few more similarities with Spanish than modern English. It had a 2nd person singular and 2nd person plural (thou and ye) and somewhat richer conjugations (I have, thou hast, he hath). It preferred the simple present over the present progressive (I go instead of I am going). It had those by-the-which, in-the-which, from-the-which type constructions which are very similar to the por-la-que, en-la-que, de-la-que constructions of Spanish.

I will do some studying about these constructions. Gracias webdunce! - bandit51jd, Jun 5, 2011

Just so you know, there aren't usually hyphens in phrases like "in the which" and "en la que"...that's just something I did for this post. - webdunce, Jun 5, 2011

Great answer. - JoyceM, Jun 5, 2011

Thank you for the additional information about the hyphens! - bandit51jd, Jun 6, 2011

Hola, Joyce! - bandit51jd, Jun 6, 2011

Answer 3

para helps establish the idea of "in order to do..."

Answer 4

Para

Here, then, are the most common uses of para:

To mean "in order to": When used in this way, it is followed by an infinitive.

Examples: Viajamos para aprender español. (We travel in order to learn Spanish. We travel for learning Spanish.) Vive para comer. (He lives in order to eat. He lives for eating.)

Gracias, Kiwi for the link into About.com! So I guess I am understanding the use of para + infinitive. Now to remember the rule and use it! :) - bandit51jd, Jun 5, 2011

Answer 5

IN order to, so as to...to simply + infinitive is in Spanish expressed with:

para+infinitive

Did I get the correct sense of this, to express the ideal of ¨in order to¨ use para + infinitive? Gracias, Heidita! - bandit51jd, Jun 5, 2011