In Order To or So That in Spanish

Phrases such as in order to, so that, and with the aim of are known as subordinators of purpose — and there are several ways to get across those ideas in Spanish.   Using Para and Para Que for In Order To The most common Spanish subordinator of purpose is the conjunction para or the phrase para que, as in the following examples: Come para vivir, no vive para comer. (Eat in order to live, do not live in order to eat.)Para perder peso, tiene que reducir la cantidad de calorà ­as en su dieta. (In order to lose weight, you have to reduce the number of calories in your diet.)Haga click en la foto para conocer los à ºltimos trabajos de este artista. (Click on the picture in order to learn more about the final works of this artist.)Voy a hacer una lista para que no olvides mis cosas. (Im going to make a list so (or so that) you dont forget my things.)Para que comprenda lo que quiero decir, primero permà ­tame advertirle. (In order to understand what I want to say, first let me tell you.)Tambià ©n se le debe ofrecer agua para que beba. (You can also offer him water so (or so that) he can  to drink.)Hay muchos trucos para que cocinar sea mà ¡s fà ¡cil. (There are many tricks so that  cooking is easier.) Note that in most cases you the same Spanish translation works for either in order to or so (that). As in the above examples, para que is followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood, while para standing alone is followed by an infinitive. Also, you may notice that when the para infinitive construction is used, the person performing both actions is the same, while when para que subjunctive is used, the persons are different. See the difference in these simple examples: Trabajo para comer. (I work so that I eat.)Trabajo para que comas. (I work so that you eat.) This rule isnt always strictly followed. It is possible under some circumstances to use para by itself when there is a shift of doer, or (more often) to use para que when theres not. But the method given here is the most common and also the easiest for foreigners to use if they wish to keep from making grammatical blunders. Other Spanish Subordinators of Purpose Here are some examples of other Spanish subordinators of purpose (in boldface): Salieron a cazar por el dà ­a. (They left in order to hunt for the day.)Llegan a comer mariscos. (They came in order to eat seafood.)Llame al oficina a defin hablar confidencialmente con un asesor. (Call the office in order to speak confidentially with an advisor.)A fin de que su aplicacià ³n sea à ºtil, las correlaciones encontradas deben ser tan poco obvias que parezcan ilà ³gicas. (In order for your application to be useful, the correlations found ought to be so inobvious that they seem illogical.)Fueron a las ruinas con el fin de aprender mà ¡s. (They went to the ruins with the goal of  learning more.)Con el fin de que el turismo pueda ser una actividad sostenible, es fundamental que se adopten cà ³digos de conducta. (In order for tourism to be a sustainable activity, it is vital that codes of conduct be adopted.)Con objeto de controlar la produccià ³n agraria, se prevà ©n sistemas de cuotas. (In order to control farm production, quota systems are being planned.)Con ob jeto de que los grupos sean lo mà ¡s homogà ©neos posibles, rogamos que no participen los desempleados. (So that the groups are as homogenous as possible, we ask that unemployed persons not participate.) As you might have guessed, the differences between a fin de and a fin de que, and between con objeto de and con objeto de que, are similar to the differences between para and para que. Phrases such as con el fin de and con objeto de are more common in Spanish and less stuffy-sounding than English equivalents such as with the purpose of.