Why? – ¿Por qué? versus ¿Para qué?

Question

1. ¿Por qué or Para qué ... dices eso? – “Why do you say that?” (What caused you to say that?)
2. ¿Para qué or Por qué estás aprendiendo español? – “What are you learning Spanish for?” (For what reason or purpose?)

Answer 1

Why? – ¿Por qué? / ¿Para qué?

Ah, the difficult por vs. para situation. It can be a bit difficult to know when to use which. It helps to think of para qué as “what for” or to understand the purpose of something. And think of por qué as “why”, or to understand the cause of something.

1. ¿Por qué dices eso? – “Why do you say that?” (What caused you to say that?)
2. ¿Para qué estás aprendiendo español? – “What are you learning Spanish for?” (For what reason or purpose?)