English for and Spanish por/para tempt learners to make one-to-one substitutions, but Catalan organizes the contrast on its own terms. In the full distinction, per looks back to a cause, motive, route, means, exchange, duration, frequency, or agent; per a looks forward to an intended recipient, destination, use, suitability, or deadline. The contrast is clearest before nouns and pronouns.
The full reference on per and per a develops the system; this clinic concentrates on diagnosis and repair.
Before an infinitive, however, two normative models coexist. Much Central usage has per + infinitive for purpose, while Valencian and the full-distinction model use per a + infinitive where the prospective value is clear. A good correction must improve the sentence without falsely declaring one coherent standard regional model defective.
A repeatable decision test
Ask these questions in order:
- Is the phrase the cause, route, means, price, exchange, agent, frequency, or duration? Choose per.
- Is it the recipient, intended destination, function, suitability, or deadline? Choose per a in the full distinction.
- Does a finite purpose clause follow? Use a purpose conjunction—normally perquè plus the subjunctive; per tal que and a fi que are also possible—not per a que.
- Does an infinitive follow? Identify purpose versus cause, then apply one recognized regional model consistently.
- Check the article: per + el → pel, but per a + el → per al. The contraction makes the meaning visible.
Common Mistakes
The following ten repairs classify the relation before choosing the preposition.
1. Intended recipient
❌ He guardat aquesta cadira pel teu avi.
Incorrect in the full distinction for the intended recipient — pel points toward a per reading.
✅ He guardat aquesta cadira per al teu avi.
I've saved this chair for your grandfather.
The chair is intended for him; he is not the cause, route, or agent. English uses undifferentiated “for,” while Spanish would guide a learner toward para; Catalan expresses the full contrast as per al.
2. Intended destination
❌ El contenidor pel port de Tarragona surt a les sis.
Incorrect for a destination reading — pel suggests movement through the port.
✅ El contenidor per al port de Tarragona surt a les sis.
The container bound for the Port of Tarragona leaves at six.
Use per a for the endpoint something is destined for. Use per when naming the route actually traversed.
3. Purpose or function of an object
❌ Necessitem un programa per la gestió de les reserves.
Incorrect in the full distinction — the program is intended for a use.
✅ Necessitem un programa per a la gestió de les reserves.
We need a program for managing reservations.
The noun phrase names the software's function, not the means by which it was acquired.
4. Suitability
❌ Aquest adhesiu no és apte per superfícies humides.
Incorrect in the full distinction — suitability takes per a.
✅ Aquest adhesiu no és apte per a superfícies humides.
This adhesive is not suitable for damp surfaces.
Adjectives such as apte and adequat point toward a target use or class and therefore favor per a.
5. Deadline
❌ Em pots tenir l'esborrany per dilluns al matí?
Incorrect in the full distinction if Monday morning is the deadline.
✅ Em pots tenir l'esborrany per a dilluns al matí?
Can you have the draft ready for Monday morning?
The phrase marks the point by which the draft must be ready. Do not confuse a deadline with duration: durant tres dies or per tres dies, depending on construction.
6. Cause
❌ Han ajornat el concert per a la previsió de tempestes.
Incorrect — the forecast is the cause, not an intended endpoint.
✅ Han ajornat el concert per la previsió de tempestes.
They postponed the concert because storms were forecast.
The event happened because of the forecast, so use per. This maps broadly to Spanish por, but the semantic test—not translation—does the work.
7. Means or channel
❌ T'enviarem el codi per a missatge de text.
Incorrect — the message is the transmission channel.
✅ T'enviarem el codi per missatge de text.
We'll send you the code by text message.
Means answers “How?” rather than “For what intended use?” and takes per.
8. Price or exchange
❌ Van vendre la bicicleta per a cent vuitanta euros.
Incorrect — a price is an exchange value and takes per.
✅ Van vendre la bicicleta per cent vuitanta euros.
They sold the bicycle for one hundred and eighty euros.
English “for” is especially misleading here. The amount is what was received in exchange, not the beneficiary of the bicycle.
9. Agent of a passive
❌ La restauració ha estat supervisada per a una especialista en vitralls.
Incorrect — a passive agent is introduced by per.
✅ La restauració ha estat supervisada per una especialista en vitralls.
The restoration was supervised by a stained-glass specialist.
The specialist performs the action in the corresponding active sentence. Agentive “by” is per, including in (formal) passive prose.
10. Finite purpose clauses use perquè
❌ Tanco la finestra per a que no entri fum del carrer.
Incorrect — per a que is not the standard finite purpose conjunction.
✅ Tanco la finestra perquè no entri fum del carrer.
I'm closing the window so that smoke from the street doesn't come in.
With a finite verb and an expressed subordinate subject, use the single word perquè plus the subjunctive (or a fuller purpose conjunction such as per tal que or a fi que). The sequence per a belongs before a noun, pronoun, or—under the relevant model—an infinitive.
Two “wrong” forms that express another meaning
Ho vaig fer per tu, perquè aquell dia no et trobaves bé.
I did it because of you / on your behalf, because you weren't well that day.
Ho vaig fer per a tu; és el teu regal d'aniversari.
I made it for you; it's your birthday present.
Both are grammatical in the full distinction. Per tu presents the person as motive or substituted beneficiary; per a tu marks the intended recipient. Context sometimes makes the readings overlap, but the contrast is real.
L'autobús passa per Reus abans d'arribar a la costa.
The bus goes through Reus before reaching the coast.
Aquest autobús és per a Reus i no s'atura a Valls.
This bus is bound for Reus and doesn't stop in Valls.
The first sentence describes a route; the second, a destination. Replacing per mechanically with per a would change the geography of the statement.
The hard case: before an infinitive
Hem vingut per parlar amb la responsable.
We have come to speak with the manager. — established Central pattern.
Hem vingut per a parlar amb la responsable.
We have come to speak with the manager. — full-distinction and standard Valencian pattern.
Both are accepted under coherent normative models. (regional: Central) commonly uses per before a purpose infinitive, especially when the infinitive expresses the subject's intended action. (regional: Valencian) systematically preserves per a in prospective and purpose uses; this is standard AVL usage, not overcorrection. (regional: Balearic, Northwestern, Northern, and Alguerese) patterns deserve description on their own terms rather than being forced into a Central-versus-Valencian caricature.
In broad (formal) writing, be unequivocal before noun recipients, uses, and deadlines. Before infinitives, select the house or regional standard appropriate to the text and remain consistent. A manuscript that alternates per fer and per a fer randomly creates noise even when each form could be defended individually.
Correction task
Classify each phrase before looking at the key: una beca pels estudiants de música; una carretera tancada per la neu; un paquet enviat per a missatgeria; un informe necessari per a que ens renovin la llicència.
Una beca per als estudiants de música.
A grant for music students. — intended recipients.
Una carretera tancada per la neu.
A road closed because of the snow. — cause.
Un paquet enviat per missatgeria.
A parcel sent by courier. — channel or means.
Un informe necessari perquè ens renovin la llicència.
A report needed so that they renew our license. — finite purpose clause with perquè.
What the pattern reveals
The ten repairs above target the central error families: English for used indiscriminately, Spanish por/para copied without checking Catalan structure, destination confused with route, deadline confused with time span, and per a que used before a finite verb. Another common failure is “correcting” every purpose infinitive to one regional model without considering the text's audience.
Key Takeaways
- Use per for cause, route, means, exchange, agent, frequency, and duration.
- In the full distinction, use per a for recipient, destination, function, suitability, and deadline.
- A finite purpose clause takes a purpose conjunction, normally perquè plus the subjunctive, not per a que.
- Before an infinitive, apply a recognized Central, Valencian, or other regional model consistently.
Proofreading checklist
- Does the phrase look backward to cause, route, means, exchange, agent, frequency, or duration?
- Does it point forward to recipient, destination, function, suitability, or deadline?
- Have you distinguished pel/pels from per al/per als?
- If a finite verb follows, should the form be perquè (or another standard purpose conjunction) plus the subjunctive?
- If an infinitive follows, which recognized regional or editorial model governs the text?
- Is that infinitive model applied consistently rather than sentence by sentence at random?
- Could changing per to per a alter cause into recipient or route into destination?
- Have you avoided labeling standard Valencian per a + infinitive as defective?
- Have you checked that an English or Spanish translation has not replaced Catalan analysis?
Now practice Catalan
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- The Preposition PerA1 — Use Catalan per for causes, routes, exchange, agents, rates, limited duration, communication channels, and common fixed expressions.
- Per versus Per AA2 — Choose per for cause, route, means, exchange, and agents, and per a for destination, intended recipients, intended use, deadlines, and explicit purpose.
- Per or Per AA2 — Choose per or per a by separating cause, route, means, duration, and agent from destination, recipient, purpose, and deadline.
- Purpose ConnectorsA2 — Express intended outcomes with perquè plus the subjunctive and with per tal de, per tal que, and a fi de while tracking who performs each action.
- Prepositions of TimeA2 — Use Catalan temporal prepositions for clock times, dates, starting points, spans, deadlines, approximate moments, and future intervals.
- One Language, Pluricentric StandardsA2 — Understand how IEC and AVL codification, regional standard forms, register, and mutual intelligibility fit within one pluricentric Catalan language.