Using "para" with verbs
Hello, I am unclear about when I should use or omit "para" with verbs. I have provided a few examples to show what I mean. May you please explain to me which sentences (with or without "para") are correct and why?
"Ella viene para cenar." "Ella viene cenar."
"Es importante para cepillar los dientes." "Es importante cepillar los dientes."
"Es bueno para conocer a nuevos amigos." "Es bueno conocer a nuevos amigos."
Thank you!
4 Answers
To add to the previous answers:
While "Viene para cenar" tells the reason / purpose of her being here, "Viene a cenar" also indicates the same reason and is actually a more common and natural phrase. You can think of it as an answer to the question "¿A qué viene?"
"Es importante cepillar los dientes." You can reverse the order of clauses to where it might make more sense to the non-Spanish mind, although it is less natural, ie: "Cepillar los dientes es importante." The same is true with "Es bueno conocer a nuevos amigos / Conocer a nuevos amigos es bueno." The word para in the reversed order these types of sentences would make absolutely no sense because there is no place to put it.
Here is a good article on the subject.
Ella viene para cenar - She comes in order to dine. That makes sense.
Es importante para cepillar los dientes - It's important in order to brush one's teeth. That makes no sense, except of course in a context like
¿Tienes dentífrico?
Sí, por supuesto. Es importante para cepillar los dientes.
Para is used when in English we could say:
I came to London so that I could earn money.
I came to London in order to earn money. This is the one where para would be used.
I came to London to earn money.
The para could be used for all of them.
"Ella viene para cenar." "Ella viene cenar." She came in order to dine, use para. You could say ella viene cenando- she came while dining (like she was having dinner on the way here)- but that really is an odd combination- and doesn’t mean what I assume you are trying to say.
"Es importante para cepillar los dientes." "Es importante cepillar los dientes." It is important to brush the (your) teeth- not it is important for to brush your teeth. Don’t use para, if you mean brushing your teeth is important. But you mean something like toothpaste with fluoride is important for (the purpose of) brushing your teeth- then you would use para. Prior context would tell you. My guess is you meant the first, without para.
"Es bueno para conocer a nuevos amigos." "Es bueno conocer a nuevos amigos." Same as the above- if conocer a nuevos amigos is the implicit subject of the sentence- meeting new friends is good (it is good to meet new friends)- no para- this is the most likely case. If you are talking about something else that is good for making new friends- like an outgoing personality or a good social network or whatever is good for meeting new friends- then you might need para.
