Learn how to use the Spanish preposition para
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dylan: Hola, hola amigos, es Dylan, ¿cómo están? |
| Carlos: What’s going on pod101 world? My name is Carlos. “Look What Spicy Little Spanish Dish We’ve Cooked Up For You.” What’s going on pod101 world? My name is Carlos and I am joined here by Dylan. |
| Dylan: Hello everyone and welcome back to spanishpod101.com. ¿Cómo están todos? |
| Carlos: How is everybody doing today? Well, I know I am doing fine and Dylan, how about you? |
| Dylan: Estoy muy bien, gracias Carlos. |
| Carlos: In this lesson, you will learn about the preposition “para”. |
| Dylan: This conversation takes place on the phone. |
| Carlos: This conversation is between Fernanda and her grandmother. |
| Dylan: The speakers are friends. So they are speaking informally. |
| Carlos: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Fernanda: ¡Alo!, ¿Abuelita?, ¡Soy yo, Fernanda! |
| Abuela: ¡Ahhhy!, ¡Fernandiiiita!, ¿Cómo está mi niña? |
| Fernanda: Muy bien abue, ¿y usted? |
| Abuela: Ahy, mi hijita, estoy bien, ¡Gracias a Dios! |
| Ferananda: Abue, ¿me puede decir los ingredientes de su famosa receta de chiles rellenos? Quiero cocinar para mi novio. |
| Fernanda: Hello! Grandma? It’s me, Fernanda! |
| Abuela: Heeeeey! Fernandiiiita! How’s my little girl? |
| Fernanda: Very well granny, and you? |
| Abuela: Ohhh, honey, I’m fine! Thank God! |
| Ferananda: Granny, can you tell me what the ingredients are for your famous “Chile Relleno” (filled pepper) recipe? I wanna cook for my boyfriend. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dylan: Well, because they’ve got tons of kids that they have had to fed. Now they got tons of grandkids that come over to eat and it’s just… |
| Carlos: It’s all about practice. |
| Dylan: It’s just a feeding frenzy yes, practice. |
| Carlos: I remember whenever I went to my grandma’s house, she sit me down and said “come hijo, come”. |
| Dylan: Yeah and you are like,” no, no, no, thank you.” |
| Carlos: I was like yes, yes, more and more. I love, this is delicious. |
| Dylan: Yeah of course. |
| Carlos: I loved it. That’s why I am so chubby. Okay guys, let’s have a closer look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dylan: “Abuelita”. |
| Carlos: “Grandmother.” |
| Dylan: “A-bue-li-ta”, “abuelita”. “Niña”. |
| Carlos: “Little girl.” |
| Dylan: “Ni-ña”, “niña”. “Gracias a Dios”. |
| Carlos: “Thank God.” |
| Dylan: “Gra-cias a Dios”, “Gracias a Dios”. “Receta”. |
| Carlos: “Recipe.” |
| Dylan: “Re-ce-ta”, “receta”. “Cocinar”. |
| Carlos: “To cook.” |
| Dylan: “Co-ci-nar”, “cocinar”. “Novio”. |
| Carlos: “Boyfriend.” |
| Dylan: “No-vio”, “novio”. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Carlos: Okay guys, let’s have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Dylan: The first word we will look at is “abuelita”. |
| Carlos: “Abuelita”, “abuela”. You know it’s interesting. I never, ever called my grandmother that. I just called her grandma. |
| Dylan: Well, this use of “abuelita” we already know is a diminutive form and it is expressing... |
| Carlos: More affection, definitely not calling your grandmother small or anything which maybe possible. |
| Dylan: So I think it’s fair to say that Fernanda is close to her grandmother when she calls her “abuelita”. |
| Carlos: Yes, it is a sweet and safe assumption. |
| Dylan: How old is your grandmother? |
| Carlos: “Mi abuela tiene 80 años”. “My grandmother is 80 years old.” |
| Dylan: And still going strong? |
| Carlos: You know, Latin American old ladies live forever. |
| Dylan: Especially down here. |
| Carlos: Lucky to live in the blue zone. Now I could say “abuelito” too, ¿verdad? |
| Dylan: Claro que sí. Well, it depends on your grandfather. |
| Carlos: Now Fernanda’s “abuela” calls her something. |
| Dylan: Yeah, “niña”. That is a common form of address for either children or grandchildren. |
| Carlos: So it just means “little girl.” |
| Dylan: Right or you could say “niño”, for boys. |
| Carlos: So “little boys”, but that’s not how you say granddaughter. |
| Dylan: No, “nieta” is granddaughter and those two words are very close. |
| Carlos: So when “abuela” says “¿cómo estás mi niña?” she is saying... |
| Dylan: “How is my little girl?” |
| Carlos: Cute and that’s nice when you have a good relationship with your grandmother. |
| Dylan: Definitely, but the use of “niña” is not limited to family. |
| Carlos: No? |
| Dylan: Nope. If we were relaxing near a playground, I could say “las niñas están muy felices”. |
| Carlos: “The little girls are very happy.” |
| Dylan: And now that I think about it, it’s funny. |
| Carlos: What is? |
| Dylan: Even if Fernanda was in her 20s, she will still be called “niña”. |
| Carlos: You know I am sure that wouldn’t change if she was in her 30s or 40s as well. |
| Dylan: No, but she probably wouldn’t be called “la chiquita”. |
| Carlos: No, no, no, she probably isn’t small and she is cooking for her boyfriend. |
| Dylan: “Gracias a Dios”. |
| Carlos: “Thank God” for what? |
| Dylan: “Niña”, I think I could deal with it if I were older, not “chiquita”. I am happy that one didn’t transfer over. |
| Carlos: Luckily that’s our next expression. |
| Dylan: Or interjection, “Gracias a Dios”. |
| Carlos: Now am I wrong to think that this is like an automatic saying for old women? |
| Dylan: Old people in general. You ask them like Fernanda, “¿cómo estás?” and they will say... |
| Carlos: “Estoy bien, ¡Gracias a Dios!”, “I am fine, thank God!” |
| Dylan: You know how old Catholics ruled? |
| Carlos: That I do. You know I come from a family of them. |
| Dylan: A more serious use might be “mi papá está muy bien de salud, gracias a Dios”. |
| Carlos: “My father is in very good health, thank God.” You know my father always told me only to thank God for like major things. I think one time I got a bike and I was like said thank God. |
| Dylan: Well that’s a little much. |
| Carlos: You know but I could also see “abuela” saying “estoy bien, por dicha”. |
| Dylan: “I am okay, lucky.” That is definitely used across the board with all segments of the population. Hey, it looks like Fernanda is getting ready for one of your favorite activities. |
| Carlos: Don’t I know it. I heard the conversation. |
| Dylan: What is she asking her grandmother for? |
| Carlos: “Receta”. A noun that means... |
| Dylan: “Recipe.” |
| Carlos: Right, “¿me puedes decir los ingredientes de tu famosa receta de chiles rellenos?” |
| Dylan: “Can you tell me what the ingredients are for your famous chiles rellenos (filled pepper) recipe?” |
| Carlos: Man, I want a “chiles rellenos” recipe. Those things are amazing. |
| Dylan: I know how to make them Carlos and they really are amazing. ¿Cuántas recetas sabes? |
| Carlos: By heart like too. like one of the pancakes with the box although I do know how to make la cocina. |
| Dylan: You still have to give me the recipe for that peanut butter chicken. |
| Carlos: Right, right I keep forgetting. You got to remind me. |
| Dylan: Or you could write it down for me with others in a “recetario”. |
| Carlos: “A cook book”, no problem. Maybe we can do that. |
| Dylan: Which is the perfect lead into our next word, the verb “cocinar”. |
| Carlos: “Cocinar”. You know, I am always happy to cover the verb “cocinar”. |
| Dylan: I know you are. |
| Carlos: Now Fernanda is trying to make an impression. |
| Dylan: Why do you say that? |
| Carlos: Well, she says “quiero cocinar para mi novio”. |
| Dylan: “I want to cook for my boyfriend.” Lucky him. |
| Carlos: Yeah, lucky him. My girlfriend doesn’t know how to cook anything. |
| Dylan: Why do you care? You cook all the time. |
| Carlos: Also very true. |
| Dylan: “Yo cocino Gallo Pinto todas las mañanas”. |
| Carlos: I know you cook Gallo Pinto every morning and it’s delicious or “deli”. |
| Dylan: For those who don’t know what Gallo Pinto is, its fried rice and beans. |
| Carlos: I know the perfect related word. |
| Dylan: Which? |
| Carlos: “Preparar”, “to prepare”, and I love to prepare meals. |
| Dylan: And I love to eat meals. So that makes this even. |
| Carlos: But I think there is no better way to get to someone’s heart than through their stomach. |
| Dylan: I completely agree. |
| Carlos: I mean when Fernanda says “quiero cocinar para mi novio”, “I want to cook for my boyfriend”, you know she is trying to impress. |
| Dylan: Especially if she is calling her grandmother to get her famous “chile relleno” recipe. |
| Carlos: Chile relleno, ¡qué rico! |
| Dylan: So we know she is cooking for her “novio”, her “boyfriend.” |
| Carlos: Correct. |
| Dylan: What is she to her “novio”? Let’s say his name is Daniel. |
| Carlos: She is his “novia”, “girlfriend.” |
| Dylan: So we can expand this and say that Daniel and Fernanda “son novios”. |
| Carlos: They are girlfriend and boyfriend? |
| Dylan: Exactly. |
| Carlos: Or if they are an official, they are “amigos”. Now, you can’t see audience, the quotation fingers, just thought you should know. |
| Dylan: Well, we all have “amigos” at one time or another. |
| Carlos: Yes, at one time or another but it progresses to “novios” and suddenly Fernanda has... |
| Dylan: “Un esposo”, “a husband.” And she is... |
| Carlos: “Una esposa”, “a wife.” Okay Dylan, new season, let’s review. |
| Dylan: The preposition “para”. |
| Carlos: One of my absolute favorites. |
| Dylan: So what are prepositions again? |
| Carlos: Now prepositions are invaluable words that is just nouns, noun phrases or subordinate clauses making them depend on a verb that is previously given. |
| Dylan: Right, in Spanish, there are many prepositions and even more prepositional phrases. In this grammar point, we will focus on the preposition “para” and take a look at the 8 principal ways that the preposition “para” can be used. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Carlos: Okay so we are set on 8 ways but don’t you think we should explain the preposition a little more. |
| Dylan: Good point. “Para” is one of the most useful and common prepositions in Spanish. |
| Carlos: Almost definitely. I know I’ve said it before but I still get it wrong sometimes. |
| Dylan: Well, most people try to translate “para” as “for.” |
| Carlos: Right, like just like “por”. |
| Dylan: And they aren’t interchangeable really. |
| Carlos: Not at all. No they aren’t. |
| Dylan: So I think the best way to learn “para” is not thinking of it as a translation of “for”, but learning its functions. |
| Carlos: Ey, right. |
| Dylan: Right. Utility, “utilidad”. “¿Para qué tanto esfuerzo?” |
| Carlos: “What’s all this effort for?” |
| Dylan: Motive, “motivo”. “Lo dijo para molestarte”. |
| Carlos: “She said it to annoy me.” |
| Dylan: Destination, “destinatario”. “Es para mamá”. |
| Carlos: “It’s for mom” or our example from today’s conversation “quiero cocinar para mi novio”, “I want to cook for my boyfriend.” |
| Dylan: Opinion, “opinión”. “Para Jorge todas las mujeres son guapas”. |
| Carlos: “All women are pretty to Jorge.” |
| Dylan: Comparisons, “comparaciones”. “Para ser tan joven tiene ideas muy sensatas”. |
| Carlos: “He has very sensible ideas for his age.” |
| Dylan: Time, “tiempo”. “Estará listo para las cinco”. |
| Carlos: “It will be ready by 5.” |
| Dylan: Imminence, “inminencia”. “Está para salir”. |
| Carlos: “He is about to leave.” |
| Dylan: Direction, “dirección”. “El tren para Sevilla acaba de salir”. |
| Carlos: “The train has just left for Sevilla.” |
| Dylan: Now there is something to remember. |
| Carlos: What’s that? |
| Dylan: Because of the inherent indeterminacy associated with “para”, it cannot be used with verbs that imply the end of a movement, final destination. |
| Carlos: Ey, what! |
| Dylan: For example, we say “Llegaremos a Caracas”. “We will arrive in Caracas” using “a” rather than “para”. This preposition is also employed in relation to time. “Para” denotes approximate time rather than exact time. |
| Carlos: I get it but I don’t get it. |
| Dylan: For example, “La fiesta ha sido aplazada para el jueves”. “The party has been set for Thursday.” “Para Navidad nos reuniremos”, “we will get together for Christmas.” Note that the times expressed in the examples are general days rather than precise moments. |
Outro |
| Carlos: Note taken. Okay guys, you know what, that just about does it for today. Okay guys, nos vemos. ¡Chao! |
| Dylan: ¡Chao amigos! |
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