“Por” and “para”, the hard half
CEFR C1
“Si hubiera sabido…”: the past that did not happenThe unreal past: “si hubiera sabido, habría venido”, and the mixed conditions where one…“Por más que lo intente”, “a fin de que sepas”The conjunctions that always take the subjunctive —“para que”, “a fin de que”, “sin…What you can say to whomTelling apart what belongs in a message to a friend, in an email to a stranger and in a…“Ponerse”, “volverse”, “hacerse”, “quedarse”: four “become”Choosing among the four: “ponerse” for a passing state, “volverse” for a lasting change…What people write and what people sayWhat changes between the two: the “ser” passive, “cuyo”, the tenses that survive only in…“Me alegro DE que” but “pienso QUE”Deciding whether a verb or an expression needs “de” in front of “que”: “me acuerdo de…The rule, in three lines
The pairs where both prepositions fit and the meaning changes: estar por (to be inclined to, or about to) against estar para (to be ready for, or in a state for); ir por (to go and fetch) against ir para (to head towards). Plus por si, por lo visto and para con.
The usual slip. Settling for the A2 rule —cause against purpose— and never noticing the sentences it cannot explain.
Why it catches you out. You solved this once at A2 and the rule you built then still works nine times out of ten. This is the tenth: “está por terminar” and “está para terminar” mean nearly opposite things, and no rule about direction gets you there.