Pour and par both translate large chunks of English for and by, but they sit on opposite sides of a clean conceptual divide. Pour points forward — toward a goal, a recipient, a destination, a purpose. Par points through — through a means, a place, an agent, a route. Once you internalize this forward-vs-through asymmetry, most of the choices become predictable. The remaining work is memorizing the fixed expressions, which are many and frequent.
Pour: purpose, goal, destination
The core of pour is toward an end. Whatever follows pour is the goal, recipient, or beneficiary of the action.
Ce cadeau est pour toi.
This gift is for you.
J'étudie pour réussir l'examen.
I'm studying in order to pass the exam.
Merci pour le café !
Thanks for the coffee!
The pattern pour + infinitive expresses purpose — in order to. This is one of the most-used constructions in French, more common than English in order to because French does not have a one-word equivalent of to + verb expressing purpose.
On apprend une langue pour communiquer.
You learn a language in order to communicate.
Je suis venu pour te voir.
I came to see you.
When the purpose is negative (so as not to), use pour ne pas + infinitive — both ne and pas go before the infinitive, in that order:
Il marche lentement pour ne pas tomber.
He walks slowly so as not to fall.
Pour: planned future duration
A subtle but important use of pour is planned or intended future duration — how long you plan to do something, often associated with a departure or a stay.
Je pars à Berlin pour deux semaines.
I'm leaving for Berlin for two weeks.
Elle est en France pour six mois.
She's in France for six months.
This use of pour is restricted to forward-looking, intended durations — typically with verbs of motion or stay. For completed past durations, French uses pendant (j'ai habité là pendant cinq ans); for ongoing durations starting in the past and continuing into the present, depuis (j'habite ici depuis cinq ans). The full system is covered in prepositions/pendant-depuis-il-y-a-pour.
Pour: opinion, perspective, comparison
Pour introduces a point of view or a frame of comparison.
Pour moi, c'est la meilleure solution.
In my opinion, it's the best solution.
Il est grand pour son âge.
He's tall for his age.
Pour un débutant, tu parles très bien.
For a beginner, you speak very well.
The pour un débutant pattern is a clean parallel to English: pour introduces the standard against which the judgement is made.
Pour cause de: formal because of
In formal and administrative French, pour cause de introduces a reason — typical of signs, official notices, and customer-service messages.
Le magasin est fermé pour cause de travaux.
The shop is closed due to renovation work.
Vol annulé pour cause de grève.
Flight cancelled due to a strike.
In ordinary speech, à cause de (because of, often with negative implication) and en raison de (due to, neutral and formal) are more frequent.
Par: agent of a passive
The first major use of par is the by-agent in passive sentences — the person or thing that performs the action.
Ce roman a été écrit par Victor Hugo.
This novel was written by Victor Hugo.
La porte a été ouverte par le concierge.
The door was opened by the concierge.
Le gâteau a été mangé par les enfants.
The cake was eaten by the children.
A small set of psychological and stative verbs takes de instead of par in the passive: être aimé de, être respecté de, être suivi de. This is a B1 nuance covered in verbs/passive/by-agent-par-vs-de; for now, the safe default is par.
Par: means, route, direction
Par expresses the path or means through which something happens.
Le voleur est entré par la fenêtre.
The burglar came in through the window.
On peut passer par le parc, c'est plus court.
We can go through the park, it's shorter.
Il m'a contacté par mail.
He contacted me by email.
For modes of transport, both par and en are possible — par avion and en avion both mean by plane — but in modern speech en is more natural with passenger transport (en avion, en train, en voiture), while par survives in shipping and postal contexts (envoyer par avion, expédié par bateau).
Il faut envoyer le paquet par avion si tu veux qu'il arrive demain.
You need to send the parcel by air if you want it to arrive tomorrow.
On y va en voiture ou en train ?
Are we going by car or by train?
Par: distribution and frequency
Par expresses per — distribution over a unit of time, space, or quantity.
Je prends ce médicament deux fois par jour.
I take this medication twice a day.
Il gagne trois mille euros par mois.
He earns three thousand euros per month.
On est cinq par groupe.
We're five per group.
This is one of the cleanest English-French mappings: English per or a/an (in the rate sense) → French par.
Par: idiomatic uses
A handful of high-frequency idioms use par in ways that do not fit any of the categories above.
J'ai appris cette poésie par cœur.
I learned this poem by heart.
Je suis tombé sur lui par hasard.
I ran into him by chance.
Par ici, s'il vous plaît.
This way, please.
Par exemple, regarde celui-là.
For example, look at that one.
These need to be memorized as units. Par cœur (by heart), par hasard (by chance), par ici / par là (this way / that way), par exemple (for example), par contre (on the other hand) — every one of them is high-frequency.
Commencer par vs commencer pour
A subtle and important contrast: commencer par + infinitive means to start by doing; commencer à means to start doing. The two are not interchangeable.
Commençons par regarder le menu.
Let's start by looking at the menu.
Il a commencé à pleuvoir.
It started to rain.
Par signals the first step in a sequence; à signals the onset of an ongoing action. This pattern reappears with finir par (end up doing, after a sequence of attempts) versus finir de (finish doing a specific action):
Il a fini par accepter.
He ended up accepting.
J'ai fini de manger.
I've finished eating.
English for splits between French prepositions
This is where most learner errors live. English for covers far more ground than French pour. Here is the working map:
- for someone (recipient) → pour qqn: un cadeau pour Marie
- for X time (planned future) → pour X: je pars pour deux semaines
- for X time (completed past) → pendant X: j'ai habité là pendant cinq ans
- for X time (ongoing, started in past) → depuis X: j'habite ici depuis cinq ans
- for + reason (formal) → pour cause de: fermé pour cause de travaux
- thank you for → merci pour
- noun, or merci de
- infinitive: merci pour le cadeau, merci d'être venu
- noun, or merci de
The single most consequential rule: I have been doing X for N years is présent + depuis, not passé composé + pour.
✅ J'apprends le français depuis trois ans.
I've been learning French for three years.
❌ J'ai appris le français pour trois ans.
Incorrect — this would mean *I learned French for a planned period of three years*, which is not the intended meaning.
English by splits between French prepositions
By is the other heavily polysemous English preposition that splits in French.
- by + agent (passive) → par: écrit par Hugo
- by + means → par or en: par mail, en voiture
- by + place (route) → par: passer par Paris
- by + time (deadline) → avant or pour: avant lundi, pour lundi (informal — by Monday at the latest)
- by + amount (gradation) → de: augmenter de 10%, réduire de moitié
- by oneself → tout seul or seul — no preposition: je l'ai fait tout seul
Common Mistakes
❌ J'ai vécu à Paris pour cinq ans.
Incorrect — for a completed past duration, French uses *pendant*, not *pour*.
✅ J'ai vécu à Paris pendant cinq ans.
I lived in Paris for five years.
❌ Je travaille ici pour deux ans.
Incorrect — for an ongoing duration that started in the past and continues into the present, French uses *depuis* with the present tense.
✅ Je travaille ici depuis deux ans.
I've been working here for two years.
❌ Ce livre a été écrit pour Hugo.
Incorrect — *pour Hugo* would mean *for Hugo (as a recipient)*. The agent of a passive is *par*.
✅ Ce livre a été écrit par Hugo.
This book was written by Hugo.
❌ Commence pour faire tes devoirs.
Incorrect — *commencer* + infinitive takes *par* (start by doing) or *à* (begin doing), never *pour*.
✅ Commence par faire tes devoirs.
Start by doing your homework.
❌ Je l'ai appris par cœur pour trois jours.
Incorrect — *for three days* in this completed sense is *pendant trois jours*; *pour* would imply a planned future learning period.
✅ Je l'ai appris par cœur en trois jours.
I learned it by heart in three days.
The last example introduces another preposition that often substitutes for English for or in: en + duration means within that span — je l'ai fait en deux heures (I did it in two hours). En and pour are not interchangeable: en deux heures (within a span of two hours) versus pour deux heures (for a planned future stay of two hours).
Key takeaways
- Pour points forward: purpose (pour réussir), recipient (pour toi), planned future duration (pour deux semaines), opinion (pour moi).
- Par points through: passive agent (par Hugo), route (par la fenêtre), means (par mail), distribution (par jour).
- English for splits between pour (recipient, purpose, planned), pendant (completed past), and depuis (ongoing); see prepositions/pendant-depuis-il-y-a-pour.
- Commencer par
- infinitive (start by doing) is not commencer à (begin doing). The contrast generalizes: finir par (end up doing) versus finir de (finish doing).
- Memorize the high-frequency par idioms: par cœur, par hasard, par ici, par exemple, par contre. These are not decodable from the parts.
Now practice French
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Start learning French→Related Topics
- French Prepositions: OverviewA1 — A systematic survey of the French preposition system — place, time, manner, cause, and purpose — plus the obligatory contractions au, aux, du, des.
- Pendant, Depuis, Il y a, Pour: durationsA2 — These six prepositions — pendant, depuis, il y a, pour, dans, en — all translate as English for, since, ago, or in. Each picks out a different relationship between the action and the time-frame, and the choice between them is often coupled with a specific tense. Getting this system right is the difference between sounding French and sounding translated.
- Transferring Prepositions from EnglishB1 — English prepositions don't map cleanly to French ones. This page is the source-language reference: for each common English preposition (in, on, to, for, by, with, about, at, of), it lists every French equivalent and the contexts that select each.
- Le Passif: par vs deB2 — When the passive agent takes par (default, for actions) versus de (for states, emotions, descriptions). Verbs of feeling, accompaniment, and coverage typically take de; the rest take par.
- Prepositions of Cause and PurposeB1 — French distinguishes positive cause (grâce à) from negative cause (à cause de), and offers a layered hierarchy of purpose prepositions from everyday pour to formal afin de and en vue de. This page maps the whole field.