Por and Para in other languages
Hello, According to this article, the words por and para originate from the Latin word pro. Since both words originate from the same root in Latin, which is the root of all the Romance languages, I was wondering if any of you know if the other Romance languages (e.g., French, Italian, etc.) have equivalents of por and para, or if they have only one word derived from the original Latin, and use one word to cover most of the meanings of both words.
(8/12/12) While this post was originally intended to refer to the Romance Languages and those only, it has piqued my interest. I'm curious if this "splitting" exists in other languages that are not related to Spanish. So if there are any members here who speak a third language and would care to share, I'd be happy to hear it, whether it's a Romance Language or not.
6 Answers
.... or if they use only one word to encompass both por and para, as English does.,
I like your question, but I don't think it is safe to say that English has one word (I assume you are thinking of 'for') that covers all the uses of por and para.
POR can also mean: because of, by, in favor of, etc.
PARA can also mean: in order to, by, in order to be, around/about, etc.
As for the other languages, I'll be curious to hear what others say.
Glad you posted.
I know in Portuguese, they have por and para (often shortened to pra).
In French, there's par and pour.
To play around with this, I typed a few phrases into Google translate, which very quickly lets you pop from language to language. Here are some examples... try it yourself with a different batch of sentences!
thank you for your help ---
i got a gift for my mom ---
i left it for her on the table ---
i visited for one year ---
Romanian: Looks like pentru
multumesc pentru ajutor
Am primit un cadou pentru mama mea
Am l?sat-o pentru ea pe mas?
am vizitat timp de un an
Spanish: Por y para
gracias por su ayuda
tengo un regalo para mi mamá
Lo dejé para ella en la mesa
He visitado por un año
Catalan: per per per
gràcies per la seva ajuda
tinc un regal per la meva mare
El vaig deixar per a ella a la taula
He visitat per un any
French: I just got pour, but that's because of my sentences...
je vous remercie de votre aide
j'ai eu un cadeau pour ma mère
Je l'ai laissé pour elle sur la table
j'ai visité pendant un an
Italian: siempre per, si?
grazie per il vostro aiuto
ho un regalo per mia mamma
ho lasciato per lei sul tavolo
ho visitato per un anno
Portuguese: para and por, plus a nice little conjugation...per + la? Quizas!
obrigado pela vossa ajuda
eu tenho um presente para minha mãe
eu deixei para ela sobre a mesa
i visitado por um ano
¿Porqué preguntar? ¡Para recibir respuestas interesantes! Bien preguntado.
Ldies and gentlemen The question is about Romance Languages only, thats mean English and Catalan (poor Franco) are not included In Latin was pro, like pro bono and per, like per diem, let me give you a better example Regina Caeli (Heil, Holy Queen) ....Ora pro nobis Deum, Alleluia ...Ruega por nosotros a Dios, Aleluya ...Pray for us, oh Holy Mother of God
Deus,qui per resurrectionem, Filii tui... Oh Dios que por la resurreccion de Tu Hijo
Ditto this let me add in Portuguese you use por and para , Italian per (per questto) French has par and pour... and that is the end of my knowledge in Romances Languages
En catalán, por y para los dos son "per".
In my experience, in Italian, the only word that really fills the function of "para/por" is "per", but in some cases the word "di" (like "de" in Spanish) is used. Great question!
