Parar v Dejar

Question

I've heard both used but when do you use each?

If someone was annoying you and you wanted them to stop, would you say 'deja' o 'para'?

If someone was walking away from you and you wanted them to stop, would you say 'deja' o 'para'?

If someone was talking about something that you didn't want to talk about, what and how would you say it?

Answer 1

Here's my two cents:

If someone was annoying you and you wanted them to stop, would you say 'deja' o 'para'?

You can use both. Deja de molestarme or para de molestarme. (Refrain from bothering me or Stop bothering me).

If someone was walking away from you and you wanted them to stop, would you say 'deja' o 'para'?

I would say: Para. No te vayas.

If someone was talking about something that you didn't want to talk about, what and how would you say it?

You can use both: Deja de hablar de eso or Para de hablar de eso. (Refrain from talking about this or Stop talking about this)

Answer 2

Although parar and dejar (de) often seem to be synonymous I think dejar would be the verb of choice when referring to giving something up, as in stopping for good, or if you were referring to a habitual or continuous action.

Eg. Quiero dejar de fumar. I want to stop smoking.

... or to interrupt an action

Deja de hablarme. Stop talking to me.

But when it comes to things such as movement I would think that parar would be more common but the exact command could be regional, for example in Spain you'd probably hear 'párate' to say 'stop' to someone walking away whereas in parts of Latin America that could possibly be taken to mean 'stand up'. In Latin America it may be more common to hear 'para' or 'espera' if you wanted someone to 'stop'.

I, however, am not a native speaker so I'd wait for some more answers.

Answer 3

If someone was annoying you and you wanted them to stop, would you say 'deja' o 'para'?

This depends upon the other words in the sentence, ie: "¡Párate ya!" or "¡Deja de molestar!"

If someone was walking away from you and you wanted them to stop, would you say 'deja' o 'para'?

Something like "¡Párate, no te vayas!"

If someone was talking about something that you didn't want to talk about, what and how would you say it?

I would probably use "dejar", ie: "¡Deja de hablar más!" although in a stronger demand "¡Cállate la boca!" would be very useful.

These are just a few examples. There are various ways available.