Destinations, deadlines, and purpose (para)

In the workplace, you need to talk about where you are going, who a document is for, when tasks are due, and why you are doing them. In Spanish, a single preposition handles all of these: para.

Destination

Use para to talk about your final destination ("for" or "to").

Tomorrow I am leaving for Colombia.
Mañana salgo para Colombia.
I am leaving for the conference with the manager.
Salgo para la conferencia con el gerente.

Recipient

Use para to indicate a recipient ("for").

This report is for the manager.
Este informe es para el gerente.
This contract is for the new colleague.
Este contrato es para el compañero nuevo.

Deadlines

Use para to express a deadline ("by" or "for" a certain time or day).

The document is for Friday.
El documento es para el viernes.
Prepare the presentation for tomorrow, please.
Prepara la presentación para mañana, por favor.

Purpose (in order to)

To explain why you are doing something, use para followed by an infinitive verb ("in order to" or "to").

I work in order to earn money.
Trabajo para ganar dinero.
We are reading the resume to prepare the interview.
Leemos el currículum para preparar la entrevista.

Putting it together

Because para has so many uses, you will often see it multiple times in the same sentence.

We need the budget by Friday to increase sales.
Necesitamos el presupuesto para el viernes para aumentar las ventas.