La donación es para el refugiado.

The donation is for the refugee.

Breakdown of La donación es para el refugiado.

• ser: to be
• para: for
• la donación: the donation
• el refugiado: the refugee

Questions & Answers about La donación es para el refugiado.

Why does the sentence use la donación and not una donación?

In Spanish, the choice between la (the) and una (a) works very much like the vs a in English:

• La donación = the donation
  You and your listener already know which specific donation you’re talking about, or it has been clearly identified in the context.

• Una donación = a donation
  You’re talking about some donation, not one that has been clearly identified.

So:

• La donación es para el refugiado.
  = The donation is for the refugee (we both know which donation).

• Una donación es para el refugiado.
  = A donation is for the refugee (one of several, not specified which).

Both are grammatically correct; it’s just a question of how specific you want to be.

Why is it la donación (feminine) and not el donación?

In Spanish, every noun has a grammatical gender, masculine or feminine. Donación is feminine, so it takes la.

A useful pattern: nouns ending in -ción are almost always feminine:

• la nación
• la información
• la celebración
• la donación

That’s why you say:

• la donación (the donation)
  not
• el donación (incorrect)

Why is it el refugiado and not la refugiado?

Because refugiado here is in the masculine form:

• el refugiado = the (male or unspecified) refugee
• la refugiada = the (specifically female) refugee

Some points:

• If you know the refugee is a man:
  → el refugiado

• If you know the refugee is a woman:
  → la refugiada

• If you’re speaking generically about a person whose gender you don’t know or not specifying it, traditional grammar tends to default to the masculine:
  → el refugiado

In the plural:

• los refugiados = refugees (masculine or mixed group)
• las refugiadas = refugees (all female group)

Why do we say es and not está in this sentence?

Both ser and estar translate as “to be”, but they’re used differently.

Here, es (from ser) is used because we’re stating a permanent characteristic / purpose:

• La donación es para el refugiado.
  → The donation’s intended recipient is the refugee.

With ser + para, you often express purpose or destination:

• Este regalo es para ti.
• El dinero es para pagar el alquiler.

Estar is usually for temporary states, location, or ongoing actions:

• La donación está en la mesa. (location)
• La donación está hecha. (state/result)

So, for “is for someone” (intended for), Spanish uses es para, not está para in this meaning.

Why is it para el refugiado and not a el refugiado?

Because para and a do different jobs here:

• para expresses purpose, destination, or intended recipient:

  • La donación es para el refugiado.
    → The donation is for the refugee (he is the beneficiary).

• a often marks:

  1. The person who receives something with verbs like dar (to give), enviar (to send), etc.
     
     • Damos la donación al refugiado.
       → We give the donation to the refugee.
  2. The personal “a” for direct objects that are people:
     
     • Ayudamos al refugiado.
       → We help the refugee.

Compare:

• La donación es para el refugiado.
  Focus: What is the purpose or destination of the donation? → the refugee.

• Damos la donación al refugiado.
  Focus: What action do we do and to whom do we give it? → to the refugee.

So para el refugiado is correct in your sentence; a el refugiado would be wrong there.

Could I say La donación es por el refugiado instead of para el refugiado?

No, that would change the meaning.

• para → intended recipient or benefit:

  • La donación es para el refugiado.
    → The donation is for the refugee (he receives it).

• por can mean because of, on behalf of, in favor of, in exchange for, etc.

  • Hicimos una donación por el refugiado.
    → We made a donation because of / on behalf of the refugee (maybe to help his cause, or his family, etc.).

So:

• If you mean who gets the donation → para.
• If you mean why / for whose sake you donate → por may be used in some contexts.

Why isn’t there a contraction like “pal refugiado” from para el refugiado, as with al and del?

In standard Spanish, there are only two official contractions with articles:

• a + el = al
  
  • Voy al médico. (a el médico)
• de + el = del
  
  • Vengo del médico. (de el médico)

There is no standard contraction for:

• para + el → always para el
• con + el → con el (no contraction)

In informal spoken Spanish, people often pronounce para el as something like “pa’l” and write it in very colloquial text:

• La donación es pa’l refugiado.

But that’s colloquial / non‑standard spelling. In correct written Spanish, you must write:

• para el refugiado

Can I drop the article and say La donación es para refugiado?

In this context, no. For a single specific person, you normally need the article:

• ✅ La donación es para el refugiado.
• ❌ La donación es para refugiado. (sounds wrong)

You can drop the article in some plural, generic expressions:

• La donación es para refugiados.
  → The donation is for refugees (in general, not specific ones).

So:

• para el refugiado → for the refugee (specific person)
• para refugiados → for refugees in general (no article, generic plural)

How would I say this in the plural, e.g. “The donations are for the refugees”?

You just make both nouns and articles plural:

• La donación es para el refugiado.
  → Las donaciones son para los refugiados.

Changes:

• la → las (feminine singular → plural)
• donación → donaciones
  (nouns ending in -ción → -ciones in plural)
• el → los (masculine singular → plural)
• refugiado → refugiados

Can I change the word order, like Es para el refugiado la donación?

Spanish word order is flexible, but some orders sound much more natural.

Most natural here:

• La donación es para el refugiado.

Other possibilities:

• Es para el refugiado la donación.
  → Grammatically possible, but sounds unusual / marked, maybe poetic or very emphatic.

• Es la donación para el refugiado.
  → Also possible, often as an answer to a question like:
  – ¿La comida es para el refugiado?
  – No, es la donación para el refugiado.

For a neutral, normal sentence in isolation, stick with:

• La donación es para el refugiado.

How could I replace para el refugiado with a pronoun?

You can replace el refugiado with the stressed pronoun él:

• La donación es para él.
  → The donation is for him.

Important:

• After para, you use strong/stressed pronouns (mí, ti, él, ella, etc.), not the indirect object pronouns (me, te, le, etc.).

So:

• ✅ La donación es para él.
• ❌ La donación es para le. (incorrect)

With other persons:

• La donación es para mí. (for me)
• La donación es para ti. (for you, informal)
• La donación es para ellos. (for them)

When you use a verb like “dar” (to give) instead, you typically use an indirect object pronoun:

• Le damos la donación. (We give him the donation.)
• Les damos la donación. (We give them the donation.)

How do you pronounce La donación es para el refugiado?

Approximate Spanish (Spain) pronunciation:

• La donación es para el refugiado
  [la ðo.naˈθjon es ˈpa.ɾa el re.fu.xiˈaðo]

Breakdown:

• La → “la” (clear “l”, short “a”)
• donación → do-na-CIÓN (stress on the last syllable, like “do-na-THYON” in Spain)
• es → like English “S” (short e as in “bet”)
• para → PA‑ra (stress on pa)
• el → like English “ell”
• refugiado → re-fu-hia-DO (in Spain, g before i or e sounds like a throaty ‘h’; stress on “a‑DO”)

Also, in natural speech para el often runs together and sounds like "pa.rel" or "pa.el".