¡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:

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!