Thread: Confusion about Russian

What's the difference between для and за, anyway? They both mean for something. Where do you use для and use за in a sentence? My language books never seem to be able to answer that.

Originally Posted by Patchman123

What's the difference between для and за, anyway? They both mean for something. Where do you use для and use за in a sentence? My language books never seem to be able to answer that.

The prepositions на and под can also mean 'for'.

See the following resources for a fairly comprehensive guide to 'for' in Russian:
Saying 'for' in Russian

Originally Posted by Patchman123

What's the difference between для and за, anyway? They both mean for something. Where do you use для and use за in a sentence? My language books never seem to be able to answer that.

They don't mean the same. I know that they are both translated as for but for has a lor of meanings, doesn't it?

для is for in its basic sense, to be more clear:

1) used to say who is intended to get or use something, or where something is intended to be used:

I’ve got a present for you - У меня для тебя подарок

2) used to say what the purpose of an object, action etc is

a knife for cutting bread - нож для резки хлеба

За

1) used to say that one thing is intended to be exchanged for the other.

money for a new house - деньги за новый дом - money is intended to be exchanged for the house

Я дам тебе ручку за карандаш - I will give you the pen for a pencil - I will give you the pen if you give me a pencil

2) used to say that a thing or a person does something instead of the other thing or person for a particular purporse. It's usually used when one person does something instead of another person:

He came down with flue so I had to deliver a speech for (instead of) him at the congress - Он простудился, поэтому мне пришлось выступить за него на конгрессе.

Also I'll give you one more hint about that. Sometimes за in this sense could imply that you don't actually do something instead of someone or something but do it as good as them. Look at this:

Я работаю за троих - It can mean both that you work intead of three people and that you work as good as three people do. In other words you manage to pull off the same amount of work as three people will manage.

Я пью за десятерых - I can drink as much booze as ten people would manage to drink

3) This is a unique meaning of за and it's a locative meaning. In this case it means behind.

She stood behind me - Она стояла за мной
There was a lot of dust behind the bed - За кроватью было очень много пыли

I hope it will help to cast away your confusion

Originally Posted by Patchman123

What's the difference between для and за, anyway? They both mean for something. Where do you use для and use за in a sentence? My language books never seem to be able to answer that.

See also this thread please "На" против "Для"