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02 Por vs. Para

¡Hola! In this lesson, we talk about some of the key differences between how we use por and para in Spanish. It’s very confusing since both of these words can be translated as for in English for different things.

Keep in mind that you can often use both words in a sentence, but they might change the meaning slightly.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about the lesson below. Enjoy!

extras:
Printable Por vs. Para – Pre-quiz
Printable sheet with differences

Chart from video:

por para differences copy

más práctica:
Check back here soon!

Vocabulario:

Sustantivos (nouns)

  • acá / aquí­ – here
  • allá / ahí­ / allá­ – there
  • gracias – thanks
  • el abuelo – grandpa
  • el almuerzo – lunch
  • el amigo – friend
  • el arte moderno – modern art
  • el avión – plane
  • el carro – the car
  • el centro – downtown
  • el dinero – money
  • el estudiante – student
  • el fútbol – soccer
  • el gato – cat
  • el parque – park
  • el pastel – cake
  • el perro – dog
  • el presidente – president
  • el queso – the cheese
  • el ratón – mouse
  • el trabajo – job, work
  • la abuela – grandma
  • la abuelita – (little) grandma
  • la ayuda – help
  • la camiseta – t-shirt
  • la casa – house / home
  • la ciudad – city
  • la culpa – fault
  • la feria – the fair
  • la hora – hour
  • la iglesia – church
  • la leche – the milk
  • la mamá – mom
  • la novia – girlfriend
  • la playa – beach
  • las hamburguesas – hamburgers
  • las manos – hands
  • las millas – miles
  • la tarea – homework
  • la tienda – the store
  • los ciclistas – the cyclists
  • los dólares – dollars
  • los guantes – the gloves
  • los huevos – the eggs
  • los minutos – minutes
  • los muchachos – boys
  • los papás – parents
  • los sábados – On Saturday
  • un anillo – ring
  • una suspensión – a suspension
  • un enano – a midget
  • un juguete – a toy
  • un libro de historia – History book
  • un taxi – taxi

otro (other)

  • alto – tall
  • aunque – although
  • donde – where
  • en – in
  • ese / esa – that
  • este / esta – this
  • estos / estas – these
  • grande – big
  • guapo – handsome
  • más – more
  • mi(s) – my
  • muy – very
  • interesante – interesting
  • otro / otra – other
  • raro – weird, strange
  • siempre – always
  • su(s) – his/her/their
  • todos – every; everyone
  • tu(s) – your
  • y / e – and
  • ya – already

verbos (verbs)

  • ahorrar – to save
  • andar – to go, to walk
    • anda – he / she goes
    • andábamos – we were going
  • caminar – to walk
    • caminamos – we walk / we walked
    • caminan – they walk
  • conducir – to drive
    • condujo – he / she drove
  • comprar – to buy
    • compraron – they bought
  • dar – to give
    • me dio – s/he gave to me
  • descansar – to rest
  • esperar – to hope, to wait for
    • esperamos – we wait (for) / we waited (for)
  • estar – to be
    • está – s/he is (feeling, located, etc)
    • estábamos – we were (feeling, located, etc)
  • hablar – to talk
    • hablaron por teléfono – they talked on the telephone
  • hacer – to do, to make
  • ir – to go
    • fue – he / she went
    • fuimos – we went
    • Nos fuimos – we left
    • vámonos – let’s go
    • fueron – they went
    • iban – they went / they were going
  • jugar – to play
    • jugamos – we play
  • manejar – to drive
    • maneja – s/he drives
  • necesitar – to need
    • necesito – I need
  • pagar – to pay
    • pagamos – we pay / we paid
  • pegar – to hit
  • perder – to lose
  • querer – to want
    • quiere – he / she wants
    • queremos – we want
  • recibir – to get, to receive
    • recibió – he / she received; he / she got
  • saber – to know
    • sabemos – we know
  • ser – to be
    • fue diseñado / fue diseñada – he / she / it was designed
    • es – s/he his
    • son – they are
  • tener – to have
    • tiene – he / she has
    • tiene que – he / she has to
    • tenemos que – we have to
  • terminar – to finish, to end
  • trabajar – to work
    • trabajo – I work
    • trabaja – he / she works
    • trabajamos – we work / we worked
  • venir – to come
    • Ven – (You) Come!

18 Responses

  1. Thank you for this new fabulous video. We missed you! The extra quiz and reminder handout are awesome, too. Thank you for all the work you put into these videos.

  2. Very appreciated. Muchas gracias. No me gustan las actividades de nuestro libro–y es mucho trabajo para crear todas de las actividades. Puedo usar este video como repaso en el cuarto curso y como una introduccion en la tercera.

    Gracias x dos million!

  3. Yay! The long-waited video! 🙂

    Muchas gracias por hacer de este video. Es una explicacíon muy clara!
    Finalmente yo lo entiendo mejor.

    Gracias, gracias!

  4. Thanks so so much, you have saved my grade! I don’t know why you don’t charge for this but I am great full!

  5. Hi Señor Jordan, you’ve put together yet another accurate lesson, this time on how to use por vs. para in Spanish.

    At first I’m sure many of us are intimidated by these terms, however, you have simplified it with your brief explanation and videos. Your quizzes are very helpful as well, makes learning more enjoyable. Thanks again for all your help on here!

  6. This is the best explanation of por and para I have ever seen. I’ve watched many videos, read many books, listened to many podcasts, but this is the best. I think I finally got it!

  7. «Por pegar a otro estudiante…» is not the same as «por pegarLE a otro estudiante». The second one means that one student hit another; the first one means that he stuck the other student to something, presumably with some kind of glue, which means that the sentence, as you wrote it, is incomplete. It would have to be constructed like «Por pegar a otro estudiante A SU PUPITRE con pegamento, Pedro fue suspendido» or «Por pegarle a otro estudiante, Pedro fue suspendido»—”Pedro got a suspension for hitting another student.”

  8. Fuimos a México por avión?????

    Creo que es “fuimos a México en avión”

    Por avión = freight

  9. ¡Muchas gracias! This video was just what I was looking for to help clarify por and para for my students. You are a lifesaver!

  10. I hope you know in Mexico “gringos” is used as an insult against white people. I know you meant it innocently, but still you should watch what you say.

  11. Hola! I just wanted you to know your efforts have not gone unnoticed and me in my friends in our spanish courses absolutely adore your videos and they have SAVED US. Youre awesome- keep being you Senor Jordan.
    -Your biggest fans.

  12. God bless you sir you alone are the only reason why mt students are learning anything because I don’t even know how to speak spanish! I don’t know why or how I teach in the first place.

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