Portuguese · Chapter 7 · Lesson 8 · Grammar primer
Por or para
Por looks back to the cause or the exchange; para looks forward to the purpose or the destination.
The short version
Thanks always looks back, so it takes por
Gratitude is for something that has already happened, which makes it a cause, and causes take por. With a noun, por fuses with the article into pelo or pela. Obrigado para is the single most common por-para mistake learners make, and every Brazilian hears it.
Obrigado pela ajuda.
Por makes you the reason, para the recipient
Faço isso por vocĂȘ means you are the reason I am doing it: for your sake. Faço isso para vocĂȘ means you will receive the result. English uses for in both and leans on context; Portuguese puts the difference into the preposition, so the choice changes what you said.
Faço isso por vocĂȘ.
That's the gist. The full article goes deeper - more examples, the edge cases, the why - and the practice below scores like a vocabulary session and earns the same XP.
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