Por vs Para take the quiz

Question

How well do you know the differences between 'por' and 'para'? If you'd like to test yourself I have prepared a little quiz, some questions are pretty straightforward and some are a little tricky.

If you take the quiz don't forget to let us know how you get on!

Thanks Kiwi...I did better than I thought I would, but not good enough. - rac1, Dec 29, 2013

Good on you for having a go, I hope the explanations helped :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 30, 2013

Yes, very much. Check your pm. :) - rac1, Dec 30, 2013

Answer 1

I messed up on a couple (some of the set phrases), but did pretty well. Thanks for the quiz!

(Number 10 gives you the answer)

The set phrase about the dog felled me too. - annierats, Dec 29, 2013

Well done Tosh, thanks for the heads up on No 10, I've now removed the answer :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 29, 2013

Answer 2

DualG I do not agree with your #14. "el avion esta por aterrizar" is not incorrect. It means that the plane is about to land.

Hmmm I would agree that you could say that the plane si 'por aterrizar' but I would say that would mean that the plane is 'yet to land'. Whereas 'para aterrizar' is how you'd translate 'about to land'.

But isn't yet to land= about to land? Or crash? - annierats, Dec 30, 2013

See post below Annie, I hope it helps to clarify the difference. - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 30, 2013

No Kiwi. It's not. Ask some other natives if you do not believe me. - DualG, Dec 31, 2013

See note further on DG :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 2, 2014

Answer 3

These are always great.Thank you.I did terrible though.I need to review and practice.

Lol I'm sure you didn't do that badly, thanks for participating and for leaving a comment :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 29, 2013

Answer 4

Excelente diseño amiga - magníficas explicaciones tambien.

I got some wrong of course and it stopped before all 31 were attempted.

As Tosh says the answer is in the question for # 10.

Gracias por sus comentarios y por participar :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 29, 2013

Answer 5

Thanks for the quiz, Kiwi. The bad news is I got 20/32 for a 56%. I'm hoping to take it again to at least pass. The good news is that I think I learned something about para and por.

Yay, well done :). We'll look forward to hearing how you go, second time around. - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 29, 2013

2nd try, 21/32 which is 66%. I'd like to take it one more time to pass. - Maria-Russell, Jan 1, 2014

That's the way, perseverance always pays off! Sigue asî :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 2, 2014

Answer 6

I do not agree with your #14. "el avion esta por aterrizar" is not incorrect. It means that the plane is about to land.

On the other side, "el avion esta para aterrizar", which you put as the correct answer, is a less common expression, and means more like "the plane has been set to land", but the time is not certain.

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On #16, both options work just fine.

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'#24 does not make sense with "por", although is grammatically correct. To explain it a little further, "Estoy aqui por hablarte" means I'm here about to talk to you, which does not make sense because you are already talking to him/her.

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Both answers work in #28.

Thanks for your feed back, I would beg to differ re number 14 (see comment below) and number 28 but I have edited 16 and 24 to avoid any confusion . Thanks again, I always appreciate constructive criticism and feedback :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 30, 2013

:) a sly smile. - annierats, Dec 30, 2013

Answer 7

Therefore I really, really want to say 'Es desmasiado dinero por un coche de segunda mano'.

Annie, it's not an exchange. It's a contrast from what is expected, which takes "para". Rewrite it, and it may make more sense:

Para un coche de segunda mano, es demasiado dinero.

Para una inglesa, hablas bastante bien. Jejeje.

Nice :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 29, 2013

Amigo, para una Vikinga hablo inglés muy, muy bien... Haz atención. Pay attention! - annierats, Dec 30, 2013

Answer 8

Thanks for posting that! It showed me how much I didn't know about the use of por vs para. I scored a paltry 24/32, a tepid C+ with a GPA of 2.5 @ 75%. lol.

The site looks like a good learning resource!

Lol happy to have helped ;). Glad you like the site, I hope to build it into a good resource :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 30, 2013

Answer 9

Another winner mate , this is a great way to learn . My score of ,-"no tan mal". was

a bit disappointing , although I do find this kind of quiz can be confusing by being

given options instead of using ones reasoning, this is not a critique merely an observation

to make me feel better for my bad result.

Lol I'm sure you did great Ray, there were some tricky ones in there ;) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 29, 2013

Answer 10

Thank you again, Kiwi, for your wonderful quizzes. I always learn something new.

Have a Happy New Year, amiga!!

Gracias, el placer es mío. :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 29, 2013

Answer 11

Great quiz, Kiwi:

I have a question about 28:

On my course my teacher ( Spanish born and bred ), said that ANY commercial exchange is por. Always.

Therefore I really, really want to say ' Es desmasiado dinero por un coche de segunda mano'.

I managed to make some stupid errors, don't worry, and on question ten you're kind enough to put up the answer!

Thanks Annie, point taken on 28 but I really think the focus of that sentence is on the unfairness or disadvantage of the exchange rather than on the exchange itself. - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 29, 2013

That makes no odds. - annierats, Dec 29, 2013

If it's an exchange, it's por, or so I believe! - annierats, Dec 29, 2013

Answer 12

Hello Kiwi, thank you for the quiz. I was not so good; my result is: 25/32.

• Question 24. is already answered.

Thanks for letting us know how you got on, don't worry that's a great start, some of them were a bit tricky. I've fixed no 24 now, thank you. :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 30, 2013

Answer 13

No tan malo.

No tan malo.

No tan malo.

¡ESTO ES MUY MALO!

En serio, me encantó la pruebita. Acabo de aprender las diferencias entre el preterito e imperfecto. Creo que ahora tengo que estudiar "por" y"para".

hacker, we must keep going somehow. it'sprobably just local usage.. - annierats, Dec 30, 2013

Jaja nice job :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 30, 2013

Answer 14

Regarding #14 this list is from a popular reference book on Spanish verbs.

Estar para + infinitive - to be about to

el avion esta para aterrizar

the plane is about to land

according to this reference

Thanks for the confirmation Denny :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 30, 2013

You're welcome, maestra :) - dennywells, Dec 30, 2013

:) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 30, 2013

Answer 15

Hi Kiwi - that was a good one; tricky but made my day brighter - don't know if you're seeing results but it does not matter, really. All the best in 2014, and cheers

Gracias, no I can't see the results but appreciate the feedback, thank you :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 30, 2013