Using Para in Spanish With an Infinitive

Using Para in Spanish With an Infinitive See how para is used twice in this selection. First paragraph of a news story: 349 euros. No hay un smartphone similar por ese precio. Para encontrar algo de tal calidad hay que pagar 300 euros ms. Es el nuevo smartphone de Google, que fabrica la surcoreana LG, y que, para ahorrar costes en intermediarios, solo se vende en la tienda de internet Google Play y sin planes de operadoras de por medio. Se llama Nexus 5. Source: Spanish newspaper El Paà ­s, dateline Nov. 1, 2013. Suggested translation: 349 euros. There is not one similar smartphone for that price. To find something of such quality it is necessary to pay 300 euros more. Its the brand-new Google smartphone, manufactured by South Korean LG. To save on middleman costs, it is sold only at the Google Play Internet store and not through phone carriers plans. It is called the Nexus 5. Key Grammatical Issue The preposition para is usually used to indicate purpose. When followed by an infinitive, as it is here both times, para often means in order to. However, in English, in order, when it precedes the to form of the verb, can almost always be omitted without any change in meaning. In this selection, para encontrar could have been translated as in order to find, and para ahorrar could have been translated as in order to save. This translation, in the interests of brevity, left out both cases of in order because it is implied in English. When translating to Spanish, however, the para is not optional. To say I eat to live, for example, you would use Como para vivir. Como vivir simply would make no sense. Here are brief examples of this phenomenon: Tomà ³ una pastilla para dormirse. He took a pill (in order) to fall asleep.Necesito un tenedor para comer. I need a fork (in order) to eat.Para estudiar vamos a la biblioteca. (In order) to study, we are going to the library.Estamos listos para salir. We are ready (in order) to leave. In some contexts, although not here, para infinitive can better be translated as for -ing verb form. For example, Es un libro para leer could be translated as It is a book for reading. Other Notes on Vocabulary and Grammar Smartphone was italicized in the original, indicating that it is viewed as a foreign or unusual word rather than standard Spanish. Such a device is also known as a telà ©fono inteligente, although smartphone (pronounced much as in English) is quite common.Hay is the typical way of saying there is or there are. However, the phrase hay que usually means it is necessary to or it is necessary that. Hay is a form of the verb haber.The preposition por is usually used when saying that something is sold for a certain price.Ese is a demonstrative adjective usually meaning that.Tal followed by a noun is a common way of saying such or this kind of.Que fabrica la surcoreana LG is an example of an inverted word order. Fabrica, a conjugated form of fabricar (to manufacture), is the verb for subject LG. The translation used manufactured by the South Korean LG rather than the literal which the South Korean LG manufactures because the former sounded more natural.The long sentence beginning with Es e l nuevo has been divided into two sentences in the translation because a single sentence in English here would have been cumbersome. Nuevo means new. By placing it before the noun, smartphone, the writer gave nuevo extra emphasis, which brand-new also does.In traditional Spanish, solo would have been spelled with an orthographic accent: sà ³lo. Under modern rules, however, the accent is optional.Se vende is an example of a reflexive verb.Internet can be written correctly in Spanish with or without the initial letter capitalized.Sin is the preposition for without.De por medio is a phrase that usually means in between. The emphasis here, which does not come across as strongly in the translation, is that the phone carriers charges, if the phones were sold by them, would come in between Google and the customer, thus increasing the costs.Although dictionaries dont list operadora as having a different meaning than operador except when it applies to a female operator (that is, a female who operates something), it appears to be fairly common to refer to a telephone company using the feminine noun operadora rather than th e masculine form used for many other types of businesses. The longer-term operador de telefonà ­a is also sometimes used. Llamarse is usually used when telling what something or someone is named.