Lo hago por ti. vs. Lo hago para ti.
Hola,
No entiendo porque el primero es lo correcto. It would seem to me that in the second example, I would be doing something for your benefit, and therefore would use para. But apparently not. Is there an explanation? Muchas gracias, Melita
12 Answers
Porque = because
Por qué = why
"No entiendo por qué el primero es correcto / es la forma correcta."
Actually, both forms are correct. It just depends on what you want to say. As others have said, para merely indicates the recipient of the action, while por indicates that the action is being done on behalf of, or instead of, or because of, someone.
I'm not sure why, but a billboard ad helped me back when I was learning this. You probably remember the ad campaign that said "This Bud's for you." The Spanish billboards said "Es para usted." You wouldn't say "Es por usted," because the para just indicates the direction of the verb, that is, from the company to you. It would be a little hard to think of a situation in which por would be appropriate (well, I can think of some, but they're pretty obscure).
Lots of learners complain about the subjuntivo, but I think the final frontier of Spanish is learning to use para and por correctly. When I was learning them, I suggested to my teacher that we should just say "pora"! Even now I sometimes encounter situations where I'm not sure which to use.
Lo hago por ti. vs. Lo hago para ti.
This is where por / para overlaps a bit.
Lo hago por ti = I do it because of you/ because I appreciate you / because I believe in you...
Lo hago para ti = I do it so that you benefit from it
As usual, "para" indicates the ultimate destiny of things, while "por" focuses on how things aim there.
Hola,
Muchas gracias por todos los comentarios. Entiendo mucho mejor como manejar estas dos frases. A propósito, la cita que motivó mi pregunta era: "Pregunten no lo que su país puede hacer por ustedes, pregunten, más bien, qué pueden hacer ustedes por su país." (John Fitzgerald Kennedy)
Gracias a todos,
Melita
de Quebec, Canadá
It depends.,...are you doing 'it' for somebody, or are you doing 'it' on behalf of somebody?
If you are doing it and are trying to explain who is the recipient of 'it', then use para...if you're saying you're doing something on behalf of someone, then use por.
Just a side point regarding any ambiguity when the person is the recipient as well as the reason why someone is doing something. 
As I was learning por and para I decided that even if I was doing something for someone, ie they were going to be the recipient, but there was some kind of emotion involved on my part as in the reason why I was doing it for them then I would use por - I'm not sure if there's any grammatical back up for this but I do find that it usually seems to work.
I want to be more specific.
1- When you are doing someting that is in benefit someone, such as cooking, laundry, saving money, buying someting; Must be used "PARA".
- Estoy comprando algo para ti.
2- When you are doing someting because you want to do it, but should be do another one; Must be used "POR".
- Estoy cuidando a tu bebe por ti.
3- When your behavior denote a special feeling for somebody; Must be used "POR".
- Cambie de opinion por ti.
- Mi amor por ti es sincero.
This is always an interesting problem. If someone (let's say George) has power of attorney for someone else (Sam), he could sign a document as Sam's agent. In Spanish George could sign the document:
George por Sam (meaning I'm George and I'm signing in behalf of Sam, or as Sam's agent)
or he could sign
Sam por George (meaning I'm signing Sam's name as his agent and my name is George)
In other words, there is some ambiguity. Scarlet and El Guapo both know what they're talking about.
First of all, you know when you really love somebody or have special feelings for that persons ( it could be your son, husband, boyfriend, sister, best friend ) and you do something for that person not because is your obligation it is because you want to ( you are not waitting foor a regard or even thanks ), but if that person ask you: Why are you doing this? ( Porque haces esto? ) you say " I do for you", "lo hago por ti " in this case the word "por" put an special enphasis in that you do that, because of him or her, because that person is special for you in some sense. It have a sense of exclusivity, yo do not do it that for anyone, but just for that person, because is special, not everybody.
"Lo hago para ti" of course could be the same meanning that the other one, because the enphasis is in the entonation, but do not have that sense of " is special for you" because you can do it for another person, too, it just that in this case is "for you", "para ti".
I hope this help you.
Rebeca
Try this site. It is a little annoying because of the poor slide show. Just use the list on the left hand side. The explanations are fairly simple but concise.
[url=http://www.northpark.edu/spanish/pp/Por%20y%20para_files/frame.htm]www.northpark.edu/spanish/pp/Por%20y%20para_files/frame.htm[/url]
This is what another website says... Now I'm even more confused.
It is quite important to learn to use these two prepositions correctly, because if you inadvertently substitute one for the other, you might end up saying something altogether different from what you had intended. Study the two examples:
Juan compró el regalo para María. Juan bought the gift for Maria. (he bought it to give to her)
Juan compró el regalo por María. Juan bought the gift for Maria. (he bought it because she could not)
i guess there is "para" as you said is in benefit of someone and "por" is because there is something that moves you to do it "for " that person.... am hopin my comments are being useful to you.....
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Maybe I should resurrect my Por vs Para Game je je and if you fancy some drill practice here's a link
