Linking words

We use many words to indicate contrast, reasons, results, and purpose.  We use them to link different parts of a sentence and they are very common in English and Spanish.

Utilizamos muchas palabras para indicar el contraste, razones, resultados, y el propósito. Las utilizamos para unir partes diferentes de una frase y son muy cotidianas en inglés y castellano.

El contraste - contrast

although aunque  

Although she doesn't like her job, she works hard.

even though aunque, a pesar de que 

Even though she was late, she said nothing!

though aunque 

Though they were invited, they didn't come to the party.

in spite of a pesar de 

In spite of the bad weather, they went to the shop.

despite a pesar de  

Despite the rain, we went to Cádiz.

while mientras 

He is French while his wife is Spanish.

whereas mientras que 

He is quiet whereas his sister is noisy.

Razón/resultado – reason/result

because porque 

He ran to the house because he was late.

because of debido a, a causa de 

We didn't go out because of the rain.

as porque 

I prepared coffee as you don't like tea.

since porque (no después) 

I didn't buy it since I had no money.

so así que, por lo que 

I was late so I ran for the train.

as a result como resultado 

It was raining. As a result, we stayed home.

therefore por lo tanto, por eso 

It was cheap therefore I bought it.

Propósito – purpose

to para 

I went to Paris to learn French.

in order to para 

I went to Paris in order to learn French.

so as to para 

I went to Paris so as to learn French.

for ..-ing para 

I bought some cloth for making clothes.

Normalmente, for + -ing es una construcción que describe el propósito de una cosa.  En este caso, es el propósito de la tela, que es una cosa.  Si el énfasis es en la persona, utilizamos una forma diferente, como in order to.

I bought some cloth in order to make clothes.  En este caso, el propósito pertenece a la persona, no a la cosa.

Podemos utilizar "for" para hablar de un propósito de una persona cuando viene seguido de un nombre pero no de un verbo.

Ejemplo:
We went to the restaurant for lunch.    Lunch es un nombre.
Pero:  We went to the restaurant for to eat lunch - es incorrecta.   We went to the restaurant to eat lunch - esa frase es correcta.

so that para que 

We left early so that we won't arrive late.

just in case por sí acaso  

Take an umbrella just in case it rains.

Pero ¡ten cuidado!

as, while, since pueden referir al tiempo también.  Por ejemplo:

As/while I was reading the book, I saw the bird.

Mientras leía yo el libro, yo veía el pájaro.

Since I was in Jerez, I have been in Cádiz.

Desde estaba en Jerez, he estado en Cádiz.