The Preposition Per | Catalan Grammar

The preposition per links an event to what motivates it, the route it follows, the price or exchange behind it, the agent that brings it about, or the rate at which it is distributed. English uses for, through, via, by, because of, and per for these relations. Catalan per therefore has a coherent network of meanings, but no single English translation.

This page focuses on per itself. Purpose, intended recipients, and deadlines often require per a in the standard distinction and are treated on Per versus Per A.

Forms and contraction

Before the masculine definite articles el and els, per contracts to pel and pels. It remains separate before la, les, and l’.

Combination	Form	Example
per + el	pel	pel carrer
per + els	pels	pels alumnes
per + la	per la	per la finestra
per + les	per les	per les escales
per + l’	per l’	per l’entrada principal

Hem entrat per l’entrada del darrere i hem pujat pels graons de pedra.

We came in through the back entrance and went up the stone steps.

Aquest formulari ha de ser signat pel titular del compte.

This form must be signed by the account holder.

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Write pel and pels as single words. Do not contract before la, les, or l’: per la carretera, per les obres, per l’aeroport.

Master decision table

If the phrase expresses…	Use	Typical example
cause, motive, or reason	per	ho fa per amistat
route, passage, or access point	per	passar pel centre
price or exchange	per	comprar-ho per vint euros
agent of a passive	per	escrit per Rodoreda
rate or distribution	per	dos cops per setmana
channel or medium	per	enviar per correu
limited or planned duration	per in appropriate contexts	llogar-lo per tres mesos
goal, recipient, or deadline	normally per a in the full distinction	un regal per a tu

Cause and motive

Per can point backward to the circumstance or motive that explains an action: per por, per amor, per curiositat, per culpa d’un error. Before an infinitive, it may introduce the event that caused a result.

Ho va fer per amistat, no perquè esperés res a canvi.

She did it out of friendship, not because she expected anything in return.

L’han multat per aparcar davant d’un gual.

They fined him for parking in front of a driveway.

Cause is not purpose. El van felicitar per haver guanyat el premi presents the completed win as the reason for congratulating him. Entrena per guanyar can present winning as the intended goal; usage before infinitives varies regionally and is discussed on the contrast page. With a noun phrase, per la victòria is naturally causal, while per a la victòria would be goal-oriented and requires a suitable context.

Negation can change the scope of the reason. No ho faig per diners normally denies money as the motive; it does not necessarily deny that the action happens. Compare Ho faig, però no per diners (“I do it, but not for money”) with No ho faig perquè no tinc temps (“I don’t do it because I don’t have time”). Punctuation and intonation help show which part is negated.

Route, passage, and spatial distribution

With movement, per marks the space traversed, the opening used, or an area through which movement is distributed. It contrasts with a/cap a for a destination and de/des de for a source.

Per anar a l’estació, passa pel pont i gira a l’esquerra després de la farmàcia.

To get to the station, cross the bridge and turn left after the pharmacy.

Aquest matí hem passejat pel barri vell sense cap pressa.

This morning we walked around the old quarter without any hurry.

The same place can take different prepositions because its role changes: Anem a Tarragona makes Tarragona the destination; Passem per Tarragona makes it an intermediate route. This is a semantic contrast, not free variation.

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Ask whether the place is the endpoint or the terrain crossed. An endpoint normally takes a/cap a; a route or access point takes per: anar a Olot but passar per Olot.

Price, exchange, and substitution

Per marks what is given, paid, or substituted in an exchange. It may translate English for, at, or in exchange for.

Vaig comprar aquesta jaqueta per trenta euros en una botiga de segona mà.

I bought this jacket for thirty euros in a second-hand shop.

Et canvio el torn de dissabte pel de dilluns, si et va bé.

I’ll swap your Saturday shift for the Monday one, if that works for you.

In Treballa per diners, money is the motive or return obtained. In Treballa per a una cooperativa, the organization is the beneficiary or employer under the full per/per a distinction. English for conceals that difference.

Agent and instrument

In a passive clause, per introduces the agent or cause responsible for the event. An instrument or accompanying circumstance normally takes amb.

La proposta va ser aprovada per tots els grups amb una sola esmena.

The proposal was approved by all the groups with a single amendment.

The minimal contrast is clear: La porta va ser oberta per la conserge amb una clau assigns the action to the caretaker and identifies the key as instrument. Standard formal Catalan also uses per part de in administrative writing, but it is often wordier than a direct per phrase: la revisió per part del comitè can usually be la revisió del comitè or an active clause.

Rate, distribution, and sequence

Per relates each unit in one set to a unit in another: frequency, price per unit, allocation, or one-by-one sequence.

Fem classe dos cops per setmana i paguem quaranta euros per persona.

We have class twice a week and pay forty euros per person.

Van entrar d’un en un, i la recepcionista els va donar una carpeta per cap.

They went in one by one, and the receptionist gave them one folder each.

Common distributive expressions include per dia, per quilòmetre, per parelles, un per un, and cinquanta per cent. The preposition sets the domain across which the amount repeats.

Duration and communication channel

For a planned, bounded assignment or validity period, per + duration is natural: llogar una habitació per sis mesos, un visat per noranta dies. For the actual duration of a past activity, Central Catalan often prefers a bare duration or durant: Hi vaig viure dos anys / durant dos anys. This distinction is useful, not absolute; regional and discourse variation exists.

Hem llogat una furgoneta per tres dies, de divendres a diumenge.

We’ve rented a van for three days, from Friday to Sunday.

Vam esperar durant tres hores abans que cancel·lessin el vol.

We waited for three hours before they canceled the flight.

Per also marks a channel: per telèfon, per correu, per WhatsApp, per videotrucada. The channel is the path through which information travels.

T’enviaré el pressupost per correu electrònic abans de les sis.

I’ll send you the quote by email before six.

Fixed expressions

Several high-frequency expressions must be learned as units: per fi (finally), per sort (fortunately), per exemple, per tant (therefore; neutral/formal), per això (that is why), per ara (for now), per aquí (around here/this way), per endavant (in advance), per força (necessarily/by force), and per poc (nearly).

Per sort, hem arribat a temps; per poc no perdem l’últim tren.

Fortunately, we arrived in time; we nearly missed the last train.

These phrases have conventional scope. Per sort, no ha plogut comments on the whole clause; without the comma in writing, the reader may initially attach a longer initial phrase more narrowly. A comma is normal when a sentence-level comment such as per sort is fronted.

A natural dialogue

—Per què heu passat pel centre? —Per les obres de la ronda. Al final hem comprat dues entrades per vint euros i te les he enviat per correu.

—Why did you go through the center? —Because of the roadworks on the ring road. In the end we bought two tickets for twenty euros and I sent them to you by email.

The exchange contains cause (per les obres), route (pel centre), price (per vint euros), and channel (per correu). English needs four different paraphrases for one Catalan preposition.

Word order and no stranding

Questions place per before the interrogative: Per què ho has fet?, Per quin carrer hi anirem? In relatives, keep it before the relative form: el motiu pel qual hem vingut, el pont per on passa l’autobús. English may strand for or through at the end; standard Catalan normally does not.

Pel camí que travessa el bosc, que a l’hivern queda gairebé impracticable, no hi passa cap autobús.

No bus goes along the path through the woods, which becomes almost impassable in winter.

Here the fronted pel camí establishes the route as topic, and hi resumes that spatial phrase inside the clause.

Common Mistakes

❌ Hem entrat per el garatge.

Incorrect — per + el contracts to pel.

✅ Hem entrat pel garatge.

We came in through the garage.

❌ El mural va ser pintat amb els alumnes.

Incorrect if the pupils painted it; amb makes them companions or instruments.

✅ El mural va ser pintat pels alumnes.

The mural was painted by the pupils.

❌ Vaig comprar la taula per a cinquanta euros.

Incorrect in the standard distinction — a price or exchange takes per.

✅ Vaig comprar la taula per cinquanta euros.

I bought the table for fifty euros.

❌ Ens veurem per la tarda.

Incorrect in the Central standard baseline; this is commonly reinforced by Spanish por la tarde.

✅ Ens veurem a la tarda.

We’ll see each other in the afternoon.

❌ Aquest és el carrer que hi passem cada matí.

Incorrect — the route relation must remain overt in the relative phrase.

✅ Aquest és el carrer per on passem cada matí.

This is the street we go along every morning.

Short correction task

Correct per el túnel, pagat per a deu euros, and la carretera que vam passar. The answers are pel túnel, pagat per deu euros, and la carretera per on vam passar. They test contraction, exchange, and the ban on silently stranding a route preposition.

Key Takeaways

Contract per + el/els to pel/pels.
Use per for causes, routes, prices and exchanges, passive agents, rates, channels, and suitable bounded durations.
The same noun can take another preposition when its role changes: per Tarragona is route, a Tarragona is destination.
Distinguish passive agent per from instrument amb.
Learn fixed expressions such as per sort, per fi, per tant, and per ara as complete units.

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