Lesson 50

Por vs Para: Cause or Destination

Language Transfer Complete Spanish is by Mihalis Eleftheriou. Listen to the original audio first; use these notes for revision.

The hook sentence for this lesson: Gracias por venir = Thanks for coming. You're thanking someone BECAUSE OF their coming — that's por, not para.

Two words for "for":

Para = for (purpose, destination, recipient) → forward-looking. Es para ti = It's for you.

Por = for (cause, reason, exchange, time duration) → backward-looking. Gracias por todo = Thanks for everything.

Por = because of. This is visible in por qué (why = "because of what?") and porque (because = "because of that").

Razón = reason (feminine). Día = day (masculine despite ending in -a — from an ancient root meaning "light," related to "deity" and the "ju-" of Jupiter).

Todos los días = every day ("all the days"). Por tres días = for three days (time duration → por).

Trabajar = to work.

Sentences practiced

Spanish	English
Gracias por venir.	Thanks for coming.
Para mí.	For me.
Para ti.	For you.
Para él.	For him.
Para ella.	For her.
Este es para ti.	This one is for you.
Estos son para ti.	These are for you.
Razón.	Reason.
Esta razón.	This reason.
Por esta razón, no quiero ir.	Because of this reason, I don't want to go.
Lo compro para ti.	I'm buying it for you. (recipient)
Lo compro por ti.	I'm buying it because of you. (cause)
El día.	The day.
Los días.	The days.
Todos los días.	Every day.
Me quedo por tres días.	I'm staying for three days.
Me quedaré por tres días.	I will stay for three days.
Me quedaría por tres días.	I would stay for three days.
Pero tengo que trabajar.	But I have to work.