Friday, May 11, 2007

Favor de / Por favor

On many signs in spanish they use Favor de _____(infinitive). Usually I hear people say Por favor _______(command). Is there any difference in tone or meaning?

- Ledge 7



No Ledge, both have the same meaning. However, "Favor de+infinitive" is more impersonal, thus it's more common in signs (and NOT in conversations). On the other hand, "Por favor+command" is used in both, conversations and signs.

For example, these two examples could work for a sign, but only the last one is likely to be used in a conversation:
Favor de cerrar la puerta al salir.
Por favor, cierre la puerta al salir.

- Karin

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