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When do you use por and para?

A difficulty for many English-speaking learners in particular is that Spanish has two prepositions, por and para, both of which can carry meanings of the English word for. (As we'll see, they can also carry some other meanings.)

Choosing between por and para meaning "for"

First, a rule of thumb that will help distinguish between por and para in many, but not all, cases:

Here are some examples of the uses of por and para:

Strong purpose: para

Exchange/reason: por

lo hice para tí I did for you (=in order to help you) ¿lo compraste para mí? did you buy it for me? Elton John da un concierto para Oxfam Elton John is giving a concert for Oxfam necesito agua para el té I need water for the tea esta ropa es para niños these clothes are for children tengo que estudiar para mis examenes I need to study for (=to pass) my exams (indicates strong goal/purpose) ya salgo para tu casa I'm leaving for your place now este coche está hecho para acelerar rápido this car is made for rapid acceleration  Suggest a change / Cambios sugeridos

lo hice por tí I did for you (=in your place, instead of you) están en dos por uno they're on two-for-one lo vendí por 200 euros I sold it for 200 Euro ¿puedo cambiar mi té por un café? can I swap my tea for a coffee? lo compré por tres razones I bought it for three reasons lo hice por motivos personales I did it for personal reasons  Suggest a change / Cambios sugeridos And a slightly counter-intuitive case: voy por el vino I'll go for the wine, I'll get the wine fueron por más café they went/they've gone for some more coffee  Suggest a change / Cambios sugeridos

Difficult cases

Note, however, that there are some verbs indicating a choice that use por where English would use for even though the person/thing being chosen could be seen as a "benefactor":

voté por Obama
I voted for Obama
optamos por el primer método
we'll opt for the first method
 Suggest a change / Cambios sugeridos

In some cases, there's some crossover between the notion of "benefit" and "purpose/reason", and so there are cases where there's not much difference between por and para:

te lo compré para/por tu cumpleaños
I bought it you for your birthday
 Suggest a change / Cambios sugeridos

Arguably in this case, para carries a stronger notion of "giving a gift", whereas por means something like "on the occasion of", "because it's...". But the difference appears slight.

The notion of to go for... is usually translated by ir por.... However, there are cases where there is a strong enough notion of "purpose" that ir para... is possible:

¿a qué hora tienes que ir por tu tren?
what time do you have to go for your train?
¿a qué hora tienes que ir para tu tren?
what time do you have to go to catch your train?
 Suggest a change / Cambios sugeridos

por and para with an infinitive

A further source of confusion is that both para and por can be used before an infinitive, where they'd often be translated with to, in order to, for the purpose of ...ing:

In general, por is more readily used with the infinitive in an "emphatic" construction such as sólo por... (meaning something like "for the sole purpose of ...ing"). For example:

"Normal/mechanical" purpose: para	More "emphatic/emotional" purpose: por
el ingeniero ha venido para reparar la lavadora the engineer has come to repair the washing machine  Suggest a change / Cambios sugeridos	he venido sólo por verte I've come for the sole purpose of seeing you (also possible: ...para verte)  Suggest a change / Cambios sugeridos

por and para with time phrases

Both por and para are used in time phrases. But in general:

For example:

voy a Cancun por dos semanas
I'm going to Cancun for two weeks
fuimos a Madrid por una semana
we went to Madrid for a week esta tarea es para el martes
this homework is for Tuesday
lo tengo que hacer para mañana
I've got to do it for tomorrow

 Suggest a change / Cambios sugeridos

However, there are cases where para could be used with a duration when it means something like "for the purpose of spending this amount of time":

este paquete es para dos semanas en Cancun
this package is for two weeks in Cancun
 Suggest a change / Cambios sugeridos

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