I taught por and para for the first time this year to my Honors Spanish 2 class. I was worried because sometimes I struggle with when to use por and para, so I researched well before I was supposed to teach it so I could prepared. What I found was helpful, and my students learned it almost effortlessly (although, it did take a good day to get to the point where they felt confident with the concept).
Mnemonic acronym for para (from “Successful Mnemonics for por / para and Affirmative Commands with Pronouns” by Keith Mason, Hispania, March 1992)
Purpose (El vaso es para agua.)
Effect (Estudio para ser maestra.)
Recipient (Las flores son para mi mamá.)
Future deadlines (La tarea es para el martes.)
Employment (Yo trabajo para la escuela.)
Comparisons (Para un gato es muy inteligente.)
Toward (Yo camino para la escuela)
Por is a little bit more complicated than para, so I simplified the rules a little. I gave them examples of 4 basic rules for por, and they had to figure out the rule. Then I gave them some commonly used expressions that use por.
4 Rules for por:
1. means of communication (Yo hablo por teléfono.)
2. length of time (Ellos estudiaron por una semana.)
3. to go through something (Yo paseo por el parque.)
4. cause or reason (Gracias por la ayuda.)
Expressions with por:
por ejemplo
por eso
por lo general
por favor
por fin
por ciento
por aquí
por ahora
palabra por palabra
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i have a spanish test with por and para on it, and this post helped so much! thank you! :)
ReplyDelete¡Gracias!
ReplyDelete