PrepositionsPorandParainPortuguese.

Thedifferenceyoualwayswantedtoknow.
Ento,tudobem?

ConfusedaboutthewordsPorandParainPortuguese?

I'msureyoulandedonthispagebecauseyoumaywantto
understandorclarifythedifferencebetween
theprepositionsPorandParainPortuguese.

Perhaps,inorderforyoutounderstandthembetteryou
mayneedtounderstandtheirconceptsfirst.

OK,letmeexplain.

Bothofthewords"Por"and"Para"inPortuguesemaybe
mainlyunderstoodas"FOR"or"TO"inEnglish,however
thedistinctionmaybeconfusing,especiallywhenyou
needtousetheminwritingorwhenspeaking.

PARA(oftenpronounced"Pra"or"Pro"iffollowedbyawordcommencingin"a"or"o"respectively)
basicallymeans"TO","FOR","TOWARDS"and"INORDERTO",whereas

PORmeans"BY","FOR","THROUGH","VIA"(inthis2lastcases,expressingmovement).

Letmebreakitdowninparts!

PARA

WhenyouusePARA,youlookforwardasanaim.Youreplytothequestions:Whatdoyoudothatfor?
Whatisthepurposeofthat?Towardswhatend?

1.Asdirectionordestination,you'dlikelyusetheEnglishwords"TO"or"TOWARDS",e.g."O
comboioparaLisboas18.00horas.""ThetraintoLisbonisat18.00hours."or"Euvouparao
norte.""I'mgoingtowardsnorth".

2.Asthepurposeofsomething,you'dusetheEnglishwords"FOR""TO"or"INORDERTO",e.g.
"Paraqufazdieta?""whatdoyoudietfor?"Inshort,forwhatPURPOSEandtowardswhat
objective?or"Parapassarnoexame,precisodeestudar"Inorderformetopasstheexam,Ineed
tostudy".

MoreexamplesofParainthisexplanationaboutPorandParainPortuguese:

"Estacanetaserveparaescrever"Thispenisusefulforwriting=PURPOSE.

"VouaNovaYorqueparacomprarroupa"I'mgoingtoNewYorktobuysomeclothes=FOR=IN
ORDERTO=PURPOSE.

"Esteautocarrovaiparaocentrodacidade""thisbusgoestowardsthecenterofthecity"=
TOWARDS=THEENDAIM.

"VoucomprarumboloparaaMaria""I'mgoingtobuyacakeforMaria"=FOR=PURPOSE.

"Paraeleentendertemdeestudar""Inorderforhimtounderstand,hehastostudy"=INORDER
FOR=THEENDAIM.

NowistimetoexplaintheotherhalfofthedifferencebetweenPorandParainPortuguese:

POR

1.IsusedasFOR(inEnglish)whenyoulookbackwardasthereasonwhy.You'dreplytothe
questions:Whydoyoudothat?Whatisthereason?Onthebehalfofwho?e.g."EutelefonoaoPedro
porti.""IcallPedroforyou"=ONBEHALFOFWHO=WHOASTHEREASONWHY.

2.WhenreferringtonumbersForhowmanyyears,kilometres,etc.?Forhowmuch?e.g.
"Compreiestacamisapor30dlares"Iboughtthisshirtfor30Dollars=FOR+NUMBER.
 3.Whenexpressingmovementyouwouldreplytothequestions:Throughwhere?Viawhere?
e.g."Eupassoteolivropelajanela.""I'llpassyouthebookthroughthewindow."=THROUGHin
movement=VIA.

4.Whenexpressingtheagentofapassiveactionreplyingtothequestions:Bywhom?e.g."A
frutafoicomidaporele""Thefruitwaseatenbyhim."FORAS"BY"=THEAGENTOFTHEPASSIVE
ACTION*

Moreexamples:

"Eufaooexerccioporti""I'lldotheexerciseforyou"=FOR=ONBEHALFOFWHOM.

"Nsfalmospor3horas""Wespokefor3hours".FOR+NUMBER.

"EstevoovaiporChicago""ThisflightgoesthroughChicago".=THROUGHinmovement=VIA.

"Ocarrofoireparadoporele""Thecarwasrepairedbyhim".FORAS"BY"=THEAGENTOFTHE
PASSIVEACTION.

*WhenItalkaboutpassiveactioninthisexplanationaboutPorandParainPortuguese,Imean:

"Thewineisdrunkbyhim""Ovinhobebidoporele.",ratherthan"Hedrinksthewine"Elebebeo
vinho."

Asyousee,the1stphraseispassivebecauseyouexpresswhatwasdonebywhom,andthe2nd
phraseisactivebecausethatpersondoestheaction(actively).

Asafinalexplanation,IneedtoletyouknowthattheprepositionPORmustbecontractedwith
definitearticles(o/a/os/as).Soifyouhaveinasentencethepreposition"por"followedby"o"
youshouldcontractthemandtheresultis"pelo".

Solet'shavealookatallthecontractions:

Por+o=Pelo
Por+a=Pela

Por+os=Pelos
Por+as=Pelas

Examples:

EuvoupelocentrodacidadeIgothroughthecitycentre.
ElevomarpelajanelaHeseestheseathroughthewindow.

Andthat'sitregardingPORandPARAinPortuguese!Ifyouwanttolearnmoreaboutotherprepositions
clickherebecausethesamecontractionprocessapplies.

IhopeyouhaveenjoyedthisexplanationaboutPorandParainPortuguese.:)

Atlogo![seeyoulater!]

Rafax