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"for" in seven languages

Meaningfor

Spanish

para

/ˈpaɾa/

inherited

From Old Spanish pora, PRŌ + AD. Its partner por (also from PRŌ, crossed with PER) covers cause and route.

French

pour

/puʁ/

inherited

Italian

per

/per/

other source · Latin PER 'through'

Per covers both 'for' and 'through, by'.

Portuguese

para

/ˈpaɾɐ/

other source · Latin PER AD 'through to' (Old Portuguese pera)

In speech often shortened to pra.

Romanian

pentru

/ˈpentru/

other source · Latin PER INTRŌ 'through inside'

Catalan

per a

/pər ə/

other source · Latin PER 'through' + AD 'to'

English

for

/fɔɹ/

Indo-European kin · PIE *per- (*pro)

English → ItalianforperNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: pro (pros and cons), pro-.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

PRŌ‘for, on behalf of’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Spanish divides the work between para (purpose, destination) and por (cause, route), a famous headache. French uses pour and par; Italian folds everything into per.

English relatives: pro (pros and cons), pro-

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEsto es para ti.
  • frC'est pour toi.
  • itQuesto è per te.
  • ptIsto é para você.
  • roAsta e pentru tine.
  • caAixò és per a tu.
  • enThis is for you.

More in Little words

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