If the basic por/para page gave you the directional logic — por backwards, para forwards — this page is where the rule starts to bend. At B2 and beyond you encounter idiomatic uses that don't fit the simple cause-vs-purpose split: estar para llover (about to rain), estar por hacer (still to be done), por si acaso (just in case), para con (in attitude toward), por mí (as far as I'm concerned), por hoy (for today, that's enough). Some of these are genuine extensions of the directional logic; others are fossilised expressions that have to be learned whole. This page lays out every advanced use you'll meet in peninsular Spanish, with the logic where there is one and the honest "memorise it" where there isn't.
Estar por vs estar para
The single most-confused pair at B2. Both translate into English as something like about to or for, but they mean different things and the difference matters.
Estar para + infinitive: ready/about to (imminent)
Estar para + infinitive expresses that something is ready to happen or on the verge of happening, viewed from outside. The action is imminent.
Está para llover, mira qué cielo más negro.
It's about to rain — look at how black the sky is.
La cena está para servir, llama a los niños.
Dinner is ready to be served, call the kids.
It also expresses fitness/condition for an activity — usually in the negative, meaning "not up to it":
No estoy para fiestas esta semana, llevo agotado desde el lunes.
I'm not up for parties this week, I've been knackered since Monday.
El coche no está para muchos viajes largos, tiene ya quince años.
The car isn't really up to long trips any more, it's fifteen years old.
The semantic frame is ready / in condition for / about to — all forward-looking, all matching the para directional logic.
Estar por + infinitive: inclined to / leaning toward / still to be done
Estar por + infinitive has two main uses in peninsular Spanish, and they pull in different directions.
Use 1: I'm inclined to / I'm tempted to / I'm on the verge of (in the speaker's mind)
Estoy por dejar el trabajo, ya no aguanto más.
I'm tempted to quit my job, I can't take it any more.
Estoy por llamarla y decírselo todo de una vez.
I'm leaning toward calling her and telling her everything once and for all.
This is internal: a state of mind, an inclination, a contemplated action.
Use 2: still to be done / not yet done (especially with passive sense)
La cocina está por limpiar, no he tenido un minuto.
The kitchen still needs cleaning, I haven't had a minute.
Queda mucho por hacer, esto es sólo el principio.
There's a lot still to do, this is just the beginning.
This use is more common with quedar por + infinitive than with estar por, but both occur. The frame is remaining to be done — the action lies in the future, the speaker is looking backward from the completed end-state at what hasn't happened yet.
Contrast pair to lock in the difference
La casa está para vender, ya hemos firmado con la inmobiliaria.
The house is ready to be sold, we've already signed with the estate agent. (Ready / about to.)
La casa está por vender, todavía no hemos encontrado comprador.
The house is still to be sold, we haven't found a buyer yet. (Pending / still undone.)
The first sentence says the sale is imminent; the second says it hasn't happened yet. English distinguishes with ready to / still to; Spanish distinguishes with para / por.
Por + infinitive: motive vs remaining
Por + infinitive has two distinct readings.
Motive: because of doing X
Lo despidieron por llegar tarde todos los días.
They fired him for arriving late every day.
Le dieron una medalla por salvarle la vida a un niño.
They gave him a medal for saving a kid's life.
This is the natural extension of por as cause: the infinitive names what caused the consequence.
Remaining / still to be done
Tengo el armario por ordenar desde hace semanas.
I've had the wardrobe still-to-be-organised for weeks.
Nos queda por hablar de lo del verano, ¿cuándo te viene bien?
We still need to talk about the summer thing — when works for you?
This second use is far less obvious for English speakers. Queda por hacer (still to be done), está por escribir (still to be written), tener X por hacer (to have X yet to do). The construction is heavily idiomatic and ubiquitous in everyday speech.
Para con + person: toward, in attitude
Para con + person means toward (in attitude or behaviour). Slightly literary, but you will meet it.
Siempre fue muy generoso para con sus empleados.
He was always very generous toward his employees.
Sus padres son muy estrictos para con ella, no la dejan salir de noche.
Her parents are very strict with her — they don't let her go out at night.
The compound preposition extends para's recipient meaning into the realm of attitudes and feelings. Generoso con sus empleados is also fine and more common in everyday speech; generoso para con sus empleados sounds a touch more formal or written.
Por mí, por ti, por él as discourse markers
The fixed expressions por mí, por ti, por nosotros (etc.) work as discourse phrases meaning as far as I'm concerned or it's fine by me. They are not the same as para mí (which expresses opinion).
Por mí, podemos quedar el sábado, no tengo plan.
As far as I'm concerned / fine by me, we can meet Saturday, I've got no plans.
Por mí, que haga lo que quiera, ya no es asunto mío.
As far as I'm concerned, let him do whatever he wants — it's no longer my business.
Contrast with para mí, which expresses an opinion:
Para mí, ese restaurante está sobrevalorado.
In my opinion, that restaurant is overrated.
Por mí says I have no objection / I don't mind. Para mí says I think / in my view. English merges them under for me in some sentences, which is why this one trips learners.
Por si (acaso): just in case
Por si and por si acaso mean just in case — a hedge for an action taken to prepare for a possible contingency. The construction can take indicative or subjunctive depending on the hypothetical-ness of the contingency.
Coge el paraguas, por si llueve.
Take the umbrella, just in case it rains. (Indicative — common in everyday peninsular speech.)
Llévate algo de dinero, por si acaso te apetece picar algo.
Take some money with you in case you fancy a snack.
Por si fuera poco, encima se puso a llover.
As if that weren't enough, on top of everything it started raining.
The last example shows por si fuera poco — a fixed expression meaning as if that weren't enough / to top it all off. Always with the imperfect subjunctive fuera/fuese.
Por hoy, por ahora, por de pronto: temporary scope
Por combines with various time words to create the meaning for now / for the moment / as of now.
Por hoy ya hemos hecho bastante, vamos a parar.
That's enough for today, let's stop.
Por ahora la cosa va bien, ya veremos en unos meses.
For now things are going well, we'll see in a few months.
Por de pronto no te preocupes, mañana lo hablamos.
For the moment don't worry, we'll talk about it tomorrow.
All three frame the action with a temporary scope — what is true now might change. The por is the cause/source preposition extended to mean given the current state of things.
Para qué vs por qué revisited
The basic rule (por qué = why?, para qué = what for?) hides a register difference. In peninsular Spanish, para qué sometimes carries a dismissive or sceptical tone — what's the point of...? — that por qué doesn't have.
¿Por qué le has dicho eso? Se va a enfadar.
Why did you tell him that? He's going to get angry. (Asking the cause.)
¿Para qué le has dicho eso? No iba a cambiar nada.
What did you tell him that for? It wasn't going to change anything. (Sceptical of the purpose — implies pointlessness.)
The contrast is subtle but real: ¿para qué...? can carry a what's the use? undertone in a way ¿por qué...? does not.
Idiomatic and fixed expressions worth memorising
Some uses don't generalise — they are just set phrases. A non-exhaustive but high-frequency list.
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| por las buenas / por las malas | the easy way / the hard way |
| por si fuera poco | as if that weren't enough |
| por encima de todo | above all |
| por lo visto | apparently |
| por lo general | generally speaking |
| por lo tanto | therefore |
| por todas partes | everywhere |
por más que
| no matter how much |
| para colmo | to top it all off |
| para que veas | so you see / there you go (peninsular discourse marker) |
| no estar para bromas | to be in no mood for jokes |
| estar para chuparse los dedos | (of food) finger-licking good |
| para variar | for a change (often ironic — meaning "as usual") |
Por más que se lo explico, no lo entiende.
No matter how much I explain it to him, he doesn't get it. (Por más que + subjunctive when the result is hypothetical or unfulfilled.)
Llegó tarde, para variar.
He arrived late, for a change. (Ironic — as usual.)
Esto está para chuparse los dedos, ¿qué le has puesto?
This is absolutely delicious, what did you put in it?
The advanced contrast cluster: a worked example
A B2 sentence can stack por and para in ways that look daunting but follow the directional logic exactly. Worth working through one slowly.
Lo hice por ti, para que pudieras descansar, por si acaso te encontrabas peor por la tarde.
I did it because of you, so that you could rest, just in case you were feeling worse in the afternoon.
Three prepositional phrases, each doing different work:
- por ti — cause: because of you (you motivated the action)
- para que pudieras descansar — purpose: so that you could rest (the goal)
- por si acaso te encontrabas peor — hedge: just in case (preparing for a contingency)
Once the directional logic is internalised, sentences like this assemble themselves. You don't have to think about which preposition; the meaning announces the direction and the preposition follows.
Common Mistakes
❌ La cena está por servir, llama a los niños.
In peninsular Spanish, the 'ready to' meaning takes para, not por. Por suggests pending or undone.
✅ La cena está para servir, llama a los niños.
Dinner is ready to be served, call the kids. — estar para = ready/about to.
❌ Para mí, podemos quedar el sábado, no tengo plan.
Para mí expresses opinion ('in my view'). To express 'fine by me', use por mí.
✅ Por mí, podemos quedar el sábado, no tengo plan.
Fine by me, we can meet Saturday. — por mí = as far as I'm concerned.
❌ No estoy para llamarla todavía, déjame pensar.
The 'inclined to / tempted to' meaning takes por, not para. Para suggests readiness/condition.
✅ No estoy por llamarla todavía, déjame pensar.
I'm not inclined to call her yet, let me think. — estar por = inclined to.
❌ Está para llover por si.
The hedge construction is por si or por si acaso, not 'por si' as a tag.
✅ Lleva el paraguas, por si acaso llueve.
Take the umbrella, just in case it rains. — por si (acaso) introduces a contingency.
❌ Es muy generoso por sus empleados.
Por sus empleados = because of his employees (causal). The attitude-toward meaning needs para con or just con.
✅ Es muy generoso para con sus empleados.
He's very generous toward his employees. — para con = attitude toward.
❌ Por más que se lo explico, no lo entendió.
Por más que + indicative reads as factual ('however much I explain, he doesn't understand'); pairing it with a single completed event tense (entendió) jars. The construction usually pairs with present + present or subjunctive + result.
✅ Por más que se lo expliqué, no lo entendió.
No matter how much I explained, he didn't get it. — keep the tenses parallel.
Watch out for these subtleties
- Por in some "agent" cases overlaps with de. Querido por todos (loved by all) or querido de todos — both are grammatical; por is far more common in modern Spanish, de is slightly archaic or literary.
- Para mañana / para hoy as deadline ("by tomorrow / by today") differs from por la mañana / por la tarde (time of day, peninsular default). The two para expressions are deadlines; the por ones are time slots.
- Por completo, por completo vs del todo. Por completo (completely / fully) is fixed: me he olvidado por completo de la cita. Del todo is the more colloquial equivalent: no estoy del todo seguro.
- Estar por has a regional split. In Spain, estoy por irme normally means I'm inclined to leave. In Mexico and the Southern Cone, the same phrase can mean I'm about to leave. If a Latin American speaker uses estar por
- inf for imminence, don't generalise to peninsular usage.
- Por in the meaning of each / per (distribution): cien euros por persona (a hundred euros per person), tres veces por semana (three times a week). This is a common A2 use that gets folded into the cause-and-exchange category, but it really has its own logic — por as the distributive preposition.
Key Takeaways
- Estar para = ready to / about to / fit for. Estar por = inclined to / still to be done. Peninsular Spanish uses estar para for imminence (está para llover), not estar por.
- Queda / está por + infinitive is the "still to be done" construction — extremely common, easy to miss.
- Por mí = as far as I'm concerned / it's fine by me. Para mí = in my view / in my opinion. Don't confuse the two.
- Por si (acaso) introduces a contingency hedge ("just in case"). Takes indicative or subjunctive depending on how hypothetical the contingency is.
- Para con
- person = attitude/behaviour toward someone. Slightly literary; con alone works in everyday speech.
- Por hoy, por ahora, por de pronto scope an action temporarily — for now.
- Por más que
- subjunctive*
- The directional logic still works at this level — por backwards, para forwards — but you need to recognise the fossilised expressions where the rule no longer transparently applies.
For the foundational rules and minimal pairs, see the basic por/para choosing guide. For the focused error-fix companion, see the por-vs-para errors page.
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Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Cómo elegir entre por y paraA2 — The canonical Spanish preposition decision. POR points backwards (cause, exchange, route, duration, agent). PARA points forwards (purpose, destination, deadline, recipient, opinion). Memory device, every common use organised by category, peninsular Spanish's distinctive a por construction, and the minimal pairs that train the instinct.
- Errores: por vs paraA2 — English 'for' maps to both por (cause, exchange, movement through, duration) and para (purpose, destination, deadline, recipient). The complete guide for English speakers, with peninsular-Spanish's distinctive 'a por' construction.
- Locuciones verbales idiomáticasB2 — Opaque verb-based idioms whose meaning can't be guessed from the parts — tomar el pelo, meter la pata, ponerse las pilas, hacer la vista gorda, dar la chapa — grouped by theme, with the distinctively peninsular set (molar, flipar, liarla parda, estar de mala leche) called out explicitly.
- Por y para: usos avanzadosB2 — Beyond the core rules. Estar por vs estar para (about to / inclined to / ready to / remaining), queda por hacer (still to be done), por si acaso (just in case), para con (toward, in attitude), por mí (as far as I'm concerned), por hoy (for today). Plus por + infinitive in its motive and 'remaining' senses, and the discourse uses that don't fit the directional rule.
- Marcadores del discurso: visión generalB1 — What discourse markers are, why they matter, and the peninsular signatures — vale, venga, en plan, pues, bueno, joder. The hidden grammar of conversation that no textbook teaches and every native speaker uses constantly.