The key to understanding whether to use por or para is to think of the meaning you want to convey, rather than the exact translation. There are many other translations for por and para in English – and it all depends on the context. While this isn’t wrong, it’s not entirely true. But like with any element of a language, mastering the difference between por and para takes a bit of practice.īut first, let me dispel a myth: one of the reasons you may find it complex is because Spanish learners are often told that por and para both mean for. Understanding the difference may feel tricky. If your answer is too many, then hold tight and stay on the page: you’re in good hands here. In practice this means that you’ll see it in some time expressions (je la tria horo – at three o’clock) and other set expressions (Mi trinkas je via sano – I drink to your health.) More on this in a future post.How many times has this nagging thought caused you tail off mid-sentence? On the contrary, it was introduced into Esperanto for those situations when there is not clear logical choice for which preposition to use. This preposition is often described as a “wild card.” Some new learners misunderstand that to mean that it can be used whenever you don’t know which preposition is the correct one to use. Remember that while “ago” is a post-position, “ antaŭ” needs to come first.Īnother case worth mentioning at least in passing (saving the detail for a future blog post) is je. I’ve seen many new speakers translating word-for-word in their heads get to the end of a sentence with “ago” in it and then find themselves stuck. That is, it works like a preposition but comes after the words it modifies. The first is antaŭ. This is often translated “ago”, which sometimes causes confusion because in English “ago” is a “post-position”. Two more prepositions warrant special mention here. They already show motion.” Long Ago in a position far, far a Je As Logano said in our video lesson about prepositions, “Do not use -n after: al, ĝis, de, or el. Otherwise, you don’t.įinally, since there are occasionally questions about what we mean by “a location that you can be in”, I will give you a short list to memorize. Basically, if a preposition shows a location that you can be in, and there is motion towards that location, then you need the -n. Some of the more common “prepositions of location” include the following.Īgain, you don’t need to memorize. – Put the book onto (into the location on) the table. – Go between ( into the location between) the two large trees. If, however, there is motion into that location, then you add an – n to show motion into or towards that location. The only grammatical endings you will need are plural endings. If the action is taking place entirely in that location, then these prepositions act just like ordinary prepositions. I like to underscore that these are locations that you can be in. Mi iras al la vendejo – I am going to the store.You don’t need to add -n or any other endings here. When you use one of these prepositions, you just put it before your noun expression (or pronoun expression.) If the noun is plural, use a -j on the nouns and adjectives, and that’s it. What they have in common is that they don’t show a location. The following is a more or less comprehensive list. The easiest prepositions to use are what I like to call “ordinary” prepositions. These are all examples of prepositional phrases. A preposition and the words that follow is called a “prepositional phrase.” By definition, a preposition is in “pre position” – that is, it comes before the words it goes with. “Between”, in this case, is an example of a preposition. What is a prepositionĪ preposition is a word, usually a small word, which is used to show a relationship between other words. The rules involved are pretty simple, but they’re different from English, so it makes sense to pay attention to their use. Using prepositions correctly is very important to speak Esperanto well.
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