Spanish · Chapter 13 · Lesson 15 · Grammar primer
Por vs para
Cause and route vs goal and destination. The use-buckets for each, and the minimal pairs where swapping one for the other changes the meaning.
The short version
Para points forwards, por points back
Stop translating 'for' and start thinking about direction. Para points forwards to a goal, a recipient, a destination, a deadline. Por points backwards or sideways to a cause, an exchange, a route. Estudio para ser médico is the goal ahead; estudio por mi familia is the motive behind. Hold that one contrast and most cases resolve themselves.
Estudio para ser médico.
Gracias por, and por for how long
Two habits worth breaking today. Thanks always point back at a cause, so it is gracias por, never gracias para. And duration is por: estudié por dos horas. Para is reserved for the deadline, the by-when, as in lo necesito para el lunes. Mix those two up and you have said something quite different.
Gracias por la ayuda.
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