natalie

¡Hola! 

I answered a similar question before, and I made a Google document about this. But I’ll post it here (because I get this question a lot) with some extra things. :)

Well, first of all I don’t recommend you to learn “por and para” as “to and for” because this is not always correct, and you might get even more confused. The truth is that these prepositions don’t have an exact translation in English or any other language, so the only thing you can do is to know the uses and differences between them.

This is how I recommend you to learn them:

POR: reason, cause, method, way, durationPARA: purpose, goal

I think para is easier to understand. Para always refers to a purpose, a goal or an effect. So if you’re not sure which one to use, ask yourself “Does the next phrase after para talk about a purpose or goal? If yes, use it. If not, 80% of the times is por. (I say “80%” because this is not an official rule. This is just something I thought about to help you choose the right preposition).

Now let’s see some examples to make this clearer:

✦ por vs. para

¿Por qué? - Why? What is the reason?

¿Para qué? - What for? What is the purpose?

Lo hice por ti. - I did it because of you. (You were the reason)

Lo hice para ti. - I did it for you. (You were the purpose)

Trabajo por mi madre. - I work because of my mother. (She got me a job / she is the reason I got a job).

Trabajo para mi madre. - I work for my mother. (I work in her business / I’m her employee).

Una canción escrita por mi amigo. - A song written by my friend. (My friend is the reason why this song exists now)

Una canción escrita para mi amigo. - A song written for my friend. (The song was dedicated to my friend)

✧ por + [place] = way, route (focus on direction, not destination)

Por aquí. - This way

Me fui por la avenida. - I went down the avenue. (The avenue was the way I chose to get to my destination.)

Lo vi cuando pasó por la ventana. - I saw him when he passed through the window. (My window wasn’t his destination)

Caminé por el parque y vi esta flor. - I walked through the park and I saw this flower. (I was walking around the park without a definite destination)

Ayer pasé por tu casa. - I passed by your house yesterday. (I was going to another place and casually your house was on my way).

Viajé por varios países. - I traveled around several countries. (I’m not specific about each country I visited)

¿Por dónde te vas a ir? - How are you going to go? (What’s the way you’re going to choose to go?)

✧ para + [place] = towards, “on my way to..” (focus on the destination)

Voy para el centro. - I’m going to downtown. (I’m on my way to downtown).

Nos vamos para Perú. - We’re going to Perú. (We’re on our way to Peru).

Viajamos para el Caribe en 30 minutos. - We travel to the Caribbean in 30 minutes. (On our way to the Caribbean in 30 minutes)

Voy para tu casa. - I’m on my way to your house.

¿Ya vienes para acá? - Are you coming here? (Are you on your way?)

✧ por + [time] = for, in (during)

Trabajé por 8 horas. - I worked for 8 hours.

Se fue por días. - He left for days.

Ha estado viajando por meses. - He/She has been traveling for months.

No lo vi por años. - I didn’t see him for years.

¿Por cuánto tiempo tienes que tomar los medicamentos? - For how long do you have to take the medications?

✧ para + [time] = due (deadline)

Tengo que terminar esto para las 8:00. - I need to finish this by 8:00.

La tarea es para el miércoles. - Homework is due Wednesday.

El proyecto es para la próxima semana. -The project is due next week.

Tengo que ahorrar 500 dólares para junio. - I need to save 500 DLS before June.

¿Para cuándo es la tarea? - When is the deadline for the homework?

✧ por + [method] = by

Te envié las fotos por correo electrónico. - I sent you the pictures by email.

Le hablé por teléfono. - I called her/him on the phone.

Lo contacté por Facebook. - I contacted him by Facebook.

¿Por dónde me mandaste los documentos? - How did you send me the documents? (Through what? what method?)

✧ por as cause

Por dormir en clase reprobé el examen. - Because I slept in class I failed the exam.

Lo has conseguido por todo tu esfuerzo. - You’ve got it because of all your effort.

Por comer mucho, ahora me duele el estómago. - Because I ate too much, my stomach hurts now.

✧ exchange / change + por

Quiero cambiar mis dólares por pesos mexicanos. - I want to exchange my dollars for Mexican pesos.

Te cambio tu sándwich por mi ensalada. - I’ll trade you my salad for your sandwich.

✧ gracias + por

Gracias por ayudarme. - Thank you for helping me.

Gracias por la comida. - Thank you for the meal.

Gracias por todo. - Thank you for everything.

More examples with gracias + por.

✧ para as goal

Trabajo todos los días para ganar dinero. - I work everyday to make money.

Hago ejercicio para bajar de peso. - I exercise to lose weight.

Practico para mejorar. - I practice to get better.

Hope this helps:)

Qué

When in questions

Used to ask something in general, something we don’t know anything about. If the verb carries a preposition, the preposition goes before qué.

¿Qué es la biología? What is biology? 

¿Qué harás mañana? What will you do tomorrow?

¿De qué hablas? What are you talking about?

When in a sentence working as a question

There are no question marks but there’s the intention of a question. 

Me pregunto qué es un hobbit.  I wonder what a hobbit is. 

When in exclamations

Used as an expression of emotion, feeling or reaction. 

¡Qué mañana tan agradable!  What a nice morning! 

Cuál 

When in questions

Used to ask for an option between a list of similar possibilities. Both the speaker and the listener know about these possibilities, they expect them to be familiar. If the verb carries a preposition, the preposition goes before cuál.

¿Cuál es tu fruta favorita?  What/which is your favorite fruit?

¿Cuál es tu opinión?  What/Which is your opinion?

¿Cuál es el mío? Which one is mine?

¿De cuál hablas? Which one are you talking about?

¿Cuál es tu nombre? What is your name?

Note: ¿Qué es tu nombre? sounds off and translates as “what is ‘your name’” as in somebody who doesn’t know what names are.

When in a sentence working as a question

There are no question marks but there’s the intention of a question.

Me pregunto cuál es la fruta favorita de mi madre. I wonder what my mom’s favorite fruit is.

Remember that cuáles is used for when using the plural, but qué never changes. Cuál/cuáles is also used in exclamations, but it is so rare that I think I will talk about that in another post. 

Check the difference 

¿Qué quieres hacer?¿Ir al cine o comer algo? What do you want to do? Go to the movies or eat something?

“When a word doubles up in English, the Latin ‘twin’ of the word represents the mind, and the Germanic 'twin’ represents the heart and the soul. So when someone’s upset you don’t say the Latin "I comprehend” to them, you say the Germanic “I understand”.“

Hope it helps! I’ll update this regularly :) 

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