Por vs Para (with explanations)

Around/Through When speaking about going somewhere, _____ refers to movement within an area. For example: Yo corro _____ el parque en las mañanas.(I run in the park in the morning.) In this example, I used _____ because “I run in (or through)” the park. Anytime you are talking about travelling through a place, use ____.

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Around/Through ______ is also used if you are travelling through one place to get to another: Voy a México _______Tijuana. (I am going to Mexico via/by way of Tijuana.)

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Destination _________ is always used when talking about the destination: Salimos ___________ Colombia ahora. (We are leaving for Colombia today.)

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Duration When you talk about how long something lasts (duration), use ____. It doesn’t actually matter that there be a specific duration as long as you are talking about how something lasts: Solamente durmieron ____ cuatro horas. (They only slept for four hours.)Ella siempre duerme ____ las tardes. (She always sleeps in the afternoon.)

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Deadline ____________ is always used when there is a deadline: Tengo que terminar el examen _________ las once. (I need to finish the exam by 11 o’clock.)

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Recipient (for/to someone) __________ expresses who (or what) it was done for: El regalo es _________ la cumpleañera. (The gift is for the birthday girl.) Escribí una carta ____________ Carlos. (I wrote a letter to Carlos.) Another way to think about this rule is to remember that you use ______ when talking about a destination. In the previous example, the letter’s final destination is Carlos!

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By Whom ______ is used to describe who did something, La fiesta fue organizada ____________ sus padres. (The party was organized by her parents.)

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Replacement (for) ________ can also describe a replacement, like the way “for” can work in English. In this example, _____ is used because the sentence is talking about who did the action (by whom) in someone else’s place: Enseñé la clase _______ mi amiga. Estuvo enferma. (I taught the class for (in place of) my friend. She was sick.)

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Because Of Use _____ when you are explaining why something happens: ______ las elecciones, hay mucha gente en las calles. (Because of the elections, there are a lot of people in the streets.)

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In order to _____________ is used when speaking about what needs to happen in order for something else to occur: _______________ llegar a tiempo, necesitas tomar el bus a las 8 de la mañana. (In order to get there on time, we need to catch the 8 o’clock bus in the morning.)

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