hacia y para

Question

por favor, explica la diferencia entre las palabras "hacia" y "para"

I see them both used as directional, how do I distinguish them?

Answer 1

Para allá in the context of direction is to there.

Hacía el poniente ...... toward (in the direction of) the west.

We can say "me voy para el pueblo" and "me voy al pueblo" they have the same meaning, "I am going to the town." But if we say "Me voy hacía el pueblo" we mean we are going toward the town, but not necessarily all the way to it.

Nice, clear explanation. - GraceM, Jan 3, 2013

Good job JC :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 3, 2013

Answer 2

Hacia = ONLY direction. Ando hacia el cine.

Para = In order to e.g. Para estar en forma, hay que hacer muchos ejercicios, used for direction e.g. Esta viajando para La India.

Para is used in many more contexts than hacia! Make sure you look into para in a lot of detail since this is one of the most commonly used words.

Answer 3

I've been thinking and trying to find some differences but they're always interchangeable... it's just that we prefer using "para" in everyday speech.

• Te estoy esperando en el restorán
• Ya voy para allá

But:

"Diríjase hacia allá" sounds better than "diríjase para allá"

"Vaya hacía allá" is used to specify a direction. "Vaya para allá" could be used to be unpolite.

very interesting. Always humbling how much this site reminds me I really don´t know. I can´t recall seeing or hearing it even once, and yet it´s common. Must improve my brain. - rogspax, Jan 2, 2013

Another example in English in your answer - "impolite" is more common, but "unpolite" is accepted and means the same thing. - PeterRS, Jan 2, 2013

Answer 4

Some more context might help, as I sure don´t understand hacia being used vaguely like para, the latter being a preposition.