Por and Para: A Meditation

[Child of Immanuel]

A little while ago in Spanish class I was finally being taught--after five years of ignorance--of the differences between the preposition por and the preposition para, both of which can be roughly translated as 'for'. As we went through a list of contrasts, I was struck by a bullet (no pun intended) under por which said that the word was used when the situation was an exchange or substitution. Directly opposite was a bullet under para, which said that that word was used when the situation was a gift.

My mind began playing with the slogan of evangelical Christianity, 'Jesus died for humankind.' Unable to come up with a single answer, I concluded that both words could be used to highlight an aspect of Jesus' sacrifice.

If Jesus died por humankind, the emphasis is on atonement, the substitution of Jesus as a sacrifice for sin. If Jesus died para humankind, the emphasis is on the free gift of forgiveness available to all.

Praise God for his mercy and for his righteousness!

[chrystalized]

that is a very inspriring observation. It is things like that that males me wish the english language could be more expressive... or deeper thinking. while we just have "for" spanish has two words, with slightly different interpretation.

[Child of Immanuel]

We have that for other words that Spanish doesn't. Think of all the ways you can express laughter in English--chuckle, guffaw, snicker, slap one's knee, and all the rest--and remember that Spanish only has one word for it. English is just as deep as Spanish in places, and just as shallow in places as well.