Coffee Break Spanish - How to translate 'for' in Spanish using 'por' and 'para' | CBS Show 2.04

Episode Date: June 20, 2024

When should you use 'por' and 'para' in Spanish? We're answering that very question in this episode of the Coffee Break Spanish Show! Join our hosts, Mark and Concha, and find out how to choose between these words. By the end of this episode you'll always know how to say 'for' in Spanish!Prefer to watch these lessons? You can do exactly that for free on Coffee Break TV, and download the episodes to your device so you can access them on the go. Or, you can head to our Coffee Break Spanish YouTube channel to access the video version of each podcast episode there. Remember to subscribe to our channel so that you don’t miss an episode.That's not all... each episode of the Show is accompanied by a blog article to increase your understanding of the topics covered.➡️ Click the link to access the blog article and worksheet that accompany this lesson ⬅️ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Coffee Brick Spanish Welcome back to the Coffee Brick Spanish show I'm Mark and I'm sorry. How are you? How are you? Super well, you know, You know, you? Because today we have an episode very interesting and very important.

That is, yes. Today, we're going to see a a word in English that's very difficult to translate from English into Spanish and we will reveal exactly what that word that we're looking at in this episode is in just a moment.

This is part of our cities the coffee break Spanish show. And these are weekly episodes where we're helping you take your Spanish to the next level one coffee break at a time.

Exactly. So if you are watching on YouTube, just make sure that you subscribe to our channel or if you're listening to the podcast version as well,

just make sure that you subscribe wherever you are listening or watching. Well, yeah we know to what we're going to then. So, let's we

reveal this mystery word, Concha. Yes, let's do it. So the word that we are going to be looking at today is four. Four. So when we translate four from English into Spanish, as in many situations, there isn't always a single direct translation. In fact, in Spanish, there's probably two words that we would normally associate with the English word four. Exactly.

How do you want to play this? So I don't want to say the two words just yet. Okay. So the way we are going to do it today is that I am going to give you a few sentences with the word four. in them. Okay. And I want you to translate them as best as you can. Okay. Okay? Sounds good.

So then we will study how to translate this word and then correct the translation challenge. Right. So we're not going to correct the translation challenge immediately. No. Okay. Sounds good. Let's have your first sentence.

So make sure that you grab pen and paper to write out these sentences just in case just in case you don't have that good of a memory, which I don't, definitely. Just one thing. If you are driving. or running or something like that, just do it in your head. Yes. Please don't put your life at risk for this.

Spanish is important but not that important. That's important. Okay. Let's see. So the first sentence is I am going to change my phone for a new one. Okay.

We'll give you 10 seconds to have a think. So sentence number one, I'm going to change my phone for a new one. That's so is. Hopefully you've got something written down or in your head for that one. Okay, let's move on. Okay, the second one is this bus is for Medellin. Okay, ten seconds again, ten seconds again, and our third sentence. The third phrase is Sophia cooked for me yesterday. Okay, yes second or three. Okay, in each sentence there,

we had the word for. Exactly. And we're wondering exactly how to translate that four into Spanish. And those brought up some thoughts for us, for us. Let's talk about the first word that we might use to translate for. Okay. The first word would be para. Para. Para. And that's P-A-R-A.

So it's got a single R. Just watch the pronunciation of that. When you're using your Spanish R's, it's para. Exactly. It's a softer sound. Yeah. Okay. So when do we use para to translate for?

So mainly in two occasions. The first one is when we are talking about the recipient of an object or an action. Okay. So if I said, I will buy this t-shirt for you. Exactly. You're the recipient. So the for there would be para. Exactly.

So the t-shirt is going to me. So then we would use para. So that would be, Comparere this camiseta for you. Exactly. Okay. Very bien. So I received.

the T-shirt, I'm the recipient, para me. And another example could be I wrote this poem for my mom. So it doesn't actually have to be a physical thing yet. So I did an action, I wrote a poem for my mom. So the recipient

of that thing, even though it's not a physical thing, is still your mom. Exactly. So it's still para your mother. Escribis this poissia, para your mother. That is, very very well. Okay. Okay. That is the first

case and the second occasion would be when we talk about destination.

Okay. So if I said I am headed for the gym, then I would say

boy para el gymnasio. Okay. Conche, could we also say boy al

gymnasio? Yes. So what's the difference between boy al

gymnasio and boy para el gymnasio. Okay. There's

no much difference really. When you say boy al gymnasio, it does

sound like you're definitely getting there if that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. So if you said boy para the gymnasio, you're just saying I'm going in this direction. Yeah, you're kind of headed there. I've always thought of it that way that you're you're on your way to the gym. Perhaps you'll stop to get some food on the way or some, well, maybe food if you're going to the gym, you don't want to eat before the gym. I suppose it depends. Anyway, but you might do something else, but you're heading in the direction of the gym and you probably

will end up there. Yes, yes. You can think of it that way. way. If you say, boy at gymnasio, you're definitely going. There are no distractions. And when you say, I'm going to say, boy para casa? Mm-hmm. Yeah. That same kind of idea. Heading towards home may stop off, talk to a friend on the way, but, but, but I'm going to a casa?

Yes. Yes. Exactly. Right. Exactly. Okay. We've got there. Okay.

So that's para. Two situations. One where there is a recipient involved. There's kind of direction of a gift, be it a poem or something else. That is. And then the second situation. is when there's a destination, a direction involved when you're heading for somewhere.

Exactly. So one way of translating for, what's the other way of translating for? The other way is the word por. Por. Por is a little more complicated because sometimes it doesn't mean far. Exactly.

Por has many, many uses. But today we're focusing on when por means for. So give us some examples. And same as para, we have two different locations. The first one would be when we are stating the reason why we do something. Interestingly, in the question, because it literally means for what reason.

Exactly. So think about that if you're thinking, Por, Por has got a kind of reason involved, hasn't it? That's, yes. So if I said, for example, I don't work for the money, I do it because I like it. Okay. That would be no Travajo for the Dino,

do I do because because I like it or for the reason that I like it Now, when you use poor in this kind of sense why we're doing something here One example I'm thinking of here is when you do something on behalf of someone else

that's another poor So I'm doing it for my sister meaning that I'm doing it so that my sister doesn't have to Then we use poor Yes. So something that my sister normally does, for example, my hermana lava the plato, today I do

do for ella. For ella. So this is quite important. And we'll come back to this later, I think. Because when we are thinking about doing something for someone else, then we do need to use por. But only when we're doing that in the sense of

replacing them doing it or doing it on their behalf. So por on the behalf of, on behalf of someone else is definitely poor as opposed to anything else. That is, yes. Always poor. Another situation using poor. Yes. So we also use

when you talk about an exchange of things. And a perfect example is when you buy something. Of course, yeah. So I bought this car for 15,000 euros. That would be, Compre this coche for 15,000 euros. So

in a sense, there's an exchange there. I give you 15,000 euros, you give me the car. That kind of idea. So there's an exchange there, I'll give you this for that. And it doesn't need to be for money. It could be for, you know, I'll swap you this cup for that cup. They're pretty much the same, so it doesn't really matter. But when there's an exchange involved, as you said, we're using por.

So that's, I'll do this for that. There we've got translating for to por. And also when we're doing something for someone or behalf of someone, it's and then the reason for why we do something is poor. So three possible, or two and a half possible uses there of por. Exactly. Just remember, however, there are other uses for por when they translate another English word. And we'll cover those in another episode.

We've not got time to fit them in today. No, we would be talking about poor for hours and hours. Okay, what's next then? So now that you have all the information about how to translate four, let's go back to the sentences that we saw in the beginning and let's see if you want to make any changes. Maybe with this new information you think, oh, I used a proposition that wasn't supposed to be used

or something like that. So once again, we'll give you 10 seconds to think through these now that you've got all this new information. Let's do number one. So the first one was, I am going to change my phone for a new one. Okay. In this example, you're going to exchange keyword.

or change you said, I'm going to change my phone for a new one. There's an exchange involved. So we now know that this has to be for. That's very well. What would the whole translation be? So one possible translation would be, I'm going to change my telephone for one new. Okay, for uno new,

one referring to a new one. Exactly. Okay. So I'm going to change my telephone for one new. That is. Exchange. Perfect. Very good.

The second era. This bus is for Medellin. Okay. So this bus is for Medellin. Now, I am thinking this is similar to going to the gym. So this bus is for Medellin. This auto bus is para Medellin. Exactly.

Medellin is the destination. So we use para. Okay. Last one. So the last one was, Sophia cooked for me. Yes. stay there. Interesting.

10 seconds, for favor. Okay, go ahead. What's the I've got another question for you. When you say

Sophia cooked for me yesterday, who does the cooking normally? Okay, so that's what we have to consider you, right? So imagine

that I do the cooking normally. In that case, she is doing it on your behalf. That's. Sophia Cocino

for me a year. Exactly. Very very. But if who does the cooking normal

is not really important. And Sophia was treating you to a nice meal that she had prepared. Then it would be... So Sophia Coutinho, para me, a year. We could almost think of it as a gift. That kind of idea is, you know, as a special treat, I'm going to cook for you. Exactly. Sofia Coutinho para me a year.

That is. Right, let's do a quick summary of por and para translating four. We've had two situations with para. The first was when there is a recipient involved, you've got a gift or something like that, a treat for someone. And the second is when we've got a destination involved. This bus is for Medellin. Exactly. Then we had poor.

And por was used for when we talk about the reason why we do something. Like we said with the job, I don't do it for the money. No lo do for the money. And also on behalf of, so if someone is doing something when someone else normally doesn't. And finally, when we exchange something for something else. Perfecto. Well, I think that is it for this episode. That is, that is all that we've prepared for you.

That is indeed all that we've prepared for you. We hope that you've enjoyed this lesson. And of course, there are more examples in our blog article. You can find the link for that blog article in the description of this podcast. That is. And if you would like more help with your Spanish, you can receive our regular free email lessons by visiting coffeebreaklanguages.com

slash Spanish. And you can look out for the next many lessons coming very soon. Well, much thanks, Concha, for this lecture. That good, Mark. Always thanks for. That's right. Okay. We'll leave it there. Until the next. And happy coffee breaking. You have been listening to a

Coffee Break Languages production for the Radiolingua Network. Copyright 2024 Radio Lingual Limited. Recording Copyright 2024 Radio Linguillimited. All rates reserved.