Spanish: An Essential Grammar

pected in the light of the rest of the sentence. The English may be simply

‘for’, or ‘although’, ‘in spite of’, ‘despite’, ‘considering’:

Para un francés habla bien For a Frenchman he speaks

portugués. Portuguese well.

Es bastante maduro para He’s quite mature considering

lo joven que es. how young he is.

Es mucho palacio para poca It is a large palace despite so

justicia. little justice.

Porand parawith estar– comparisons

Estar para

In Spain this generally indicates what is about to be done, or is on the point

of being done, what might otherwise be expressed as estar a punto de:

Estoy para salir. [SP] I am about to leave.

El tren está para partir. [SP] The train is on the point of

departing.

Note: In Latin America estar porfrequently conveys this meaning.

Estar por

In addition to having the meanings illustrated in 22.1(h) and (k), estar por

can be used with a personal subject to indicate personal inclination, ‘to be

inclined to’:

Estaba por decir que no se podía hacer.

I was inclined to say that it could not be done.

22.3

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1011

1

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Comparisons

of porand

parawith

estar

237

Para + infinitive contrasted with por + infinitive

Whilst para + infinitive is the safest option for learners of the language,

cases will also be encountered in which por appears to fulfil the same

function. In fact, generally this is done by native speakers as a means

of stating causeor motiverather than, or perhaps as well as, purpose.

Porin this usage at times expresses the idea of por querer ‘because

of wanting to’: Decidieron no salir por (querer) estar conmigo‘They

decided not to go out, to be with me’.