Por or Para confusion.

In one of the lessons describing the different usage of these two prepositions an example is given of: "I went for a run" translated as "Fue a correr". There is no explanation of why neither Por or Para is used. It explains that a verb like Pedir which means "to ask for" already includes "for" therefore neither Por nor Para is required which I understand. Not so the first example however. Can anyone explain?

Hola! Your confusion is understandable, but it is due to a not so accurate translation. Fue a correr-> actually means "I went to run", and is from the construction "ir+a+infinitive- To go to do something" This is what can be used to form the immediate future tense, eg: Voy a comer "I'm going to eat" In fact, there are many prepositions which can follow verbs, not just "a" and "por", others include con, de, en, or no preposition. Some verbs even have different meanings depending on the following preposition for example: Parar + de means to stop doing something, but parar + a means to stop TO DO something :s Here's a list with different verbs and their following pronouns and menaings: http://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/verb/verbswithprep.html And did I mention that some have to be followed by an object while others by an infinitive? :p Well, I have a Spanish Grammar O-level to sit next week. Wish me luck please!

Hola In lesson 4.3, The Hotel. Por and para are used in the same context. Para una noche? Por dos noches. Should it not be para for both? Gracias

Actually "Fue a correr" means "(He)went to run" or " He went for a run" (it sounds better this way... If you want to say "I went for a run" you should say..."(yo)Fui a correr" or simply "Fui a correr"...."Fue" and "Fui" are the same verb but one is for the the "He-she" person and the other is for "i " person. And about the "para" and "por"...well, even for us spanish speakers, we use both as synonyms, but .... 1)Para ,Indicates the usage of something, for example.."El cloro es bueno para quitar manchas" (Chlorine is good TO remove stains or FOR removing stains)....so this para is more like a "to" from english.... 2)Para also Indicates the purpose of the action expressed by the main verb of the sentence, for example "Fui al cine para distraerme"...I went to the movies FOR distraction or I went to the movies looking FOR distraction. 3)Para also indicates the directions of a movement, for example : " Nos vamos para la izquierda"....We are going (towards)left. 4) Para also indicates a lot of other meanings, for example "La carta es para mi mama"...The letter is FOR my mom ...when you give a present to someone , in english you usually write "FROM and FOR"...in spanish you write "DE y PARA"... ;) NOW in the case of POR: 1) Por Indicates the place through which one passes, to make this clear, read the example..."Ayer pase por tu casa"...Yesterday i passed by you house (or something similar). 2)Indicates a place or approximate date...for example "Hay una farmacia por aqui cerca"...There is a pharmacy near here or close to here. 3)Indicates the cause of an action..."Lo hice por ti"...I did it for you 4)It used also to indicate mathematical operation of multiplication, for example "5 por 5 igual a 25"..."5 times 5 equals 25". 5)It also indicates the author of a book or paint or whatever... "El libro fue escrito por Carlos"....The book was written by Carlos I hope this is helpfull. Buena suerte!

Oh my goodness! Here I thought I was figuring all this out, but now I think not, lol. Thank you Cristian for you post. I wasn't the one to ask the question, but all will help me in the end. Ahora, necissito aprendar la tenses pasado y futuro para verbos.

"Necesito aprender (tenses wil be something like "tiempos gramaticales", "conjugacion del tiempo", "tiempo verbal" or simply "tiempos). Tenses, at least from my point of view are simpler than the one in enligsh (perfect, imperfect, present, blah blah). In spanish, we use past, future and present. In the case of the past (pasado) we divide it on 2 (pretérito and copréterito) The first one, "pretérito" or "simple past" or perfect past, its for example: Yo comí ( I ate), Tú comiste (you ate).... The second one, "Copretérito" or "imperfect past", this second one is a little bit difficult to explain but is not really that hard to use. Using the same verb "COMER" (to eat) it would be something like this: Yo comía (I used to eat ), Tu comías (You used to eat), El comía ( he used to eat )..... As you can see in the examples above, the "copreterito" shows an action which happened in the past but not really explains whether is still happening or not... For example..."El comía muchos tacos"... He used to eat a lot of tacos...vs "El comío muchos tacos"...He ate a lot of tacos....see the diffrence?. Other verbs yo want to express in past simple for example "Soñar" (To dream). will be like this: Yo soñé, Tu soñaste, El soñó....He dreamt(or dreamed), you dreamt, he dreamt. but in "copreterito" the verb changes to... Yo soñaba, Tu soñabas, El soñaba....I used to dream, you used to dream,he used to dream.

I heard that in spanish para means for

Here's a good discussion of the prepositions por and para in 2011. Christian really spent a lot of time explaining. Thanks Christian from the class of 2014.