Para in Portuguese

By James Hall / / (2) Beginning Portuguese
para
PARA can mean either to (some place), or for (in order for).

This harmless preposition confuses people all the time because there exist also the preposition a, which also means to. Everyone asks which is correct: Eu vou à praia, or Eu vou para a praia-?

Both are correct.

Some will say that you should use PARA when talking about going somewhere temporarily, and that a should be used to talk about going somewhere more permanently. This, is of course relative.

But the fact is, Brazilians use both in the same context. PARA is also very similar to POR (this post explains why)

Para in Portuguese
to (destination)
Eu vou para casa.
Ela vai para o Brasil.
Você vai para onde?
in order for / to
Eu estudo para aprender!
Ele come legumes para ficar forte.
Você vai falar com Jessica para ela entender melhor?