Mexican Spanish to Catalan: going for something is different from travelling through a place
Por can identify the object of a collection trip
A Mexican Spanish message such as Voy por agua describes a trip to obtain water. It does not necessarily describe travelling through water. When translating an errand into Catalan, establish what the person will collect, where they will collect it and which route they will take. These are separate pieces of information even when por appears in more than one phrase.
El Colegio de México’s dictionary records por for something being sought or transported, alongside separate senses for a route, a reason, a price and an exchange. A short pickup message therefore needs its situation. The preposition does not independently tell the translator whether the following noun identifies a destination, a collected object or a payment.
For an original workshop arrangement, somebody can go for a projector through the side entrance. The projector is what they collect; the entrance belongs to the route. If the Catalan message makes the projector a place to pass through or treats the entrance as an object to collect, the shared movement vocabulary has not preserved the errand.
Choose a Catalan expression suitable for the message’s register
An Institut d’Estudis Catalans report on sports discussion programmes examines anar a per used with the meaning of going to fetch something. It describes that expression as colloquial in certain varieties and says it is avoided in formal registers. Its explanation identifies anar a buscar alguna cosa as the intended fetching meaning.
This is a register distinction, not evidence that an informal speaker has no understandable intention. For a formal Catalan collection notice, make the fetching action explicit with an appropriate construction rather than automatically reproducing a preposition sequence. For a quoted casual message, recognise the meaning before deciding how much formalisation the translation requires.
In the workshop example, a notice for an outside supplier may need the item name, collection point and contact person. A private message between colleagues may already share those details. Preserve the information the recipient actually needs, but do not invent a warehouse address or a named collector merely to make the translation appear more complete.
Collection does not establish purchase or delivery
Going for an object does not by itself say that the traveller will buy it. The projector could be borrowed, already paid for or awaiting return. Likewise, collecting it is different from delivering it to the final room. If those stages matter, state them separately in the Spanish source so the Catalan reader can follow the whole arrangement.
Suppose one colleague collects the projector and another receives it at the venue. Keep the collector, handover recipient and final destination distinct. A message that merely says someone is going for it should not acquire a claim that the equipment has already reached the venue. The difference affects whether the organiser still needs to arrange transport.
When saving this kind of translation, label it as a collection request, route instruction or delivery confirmation. Include whether payment is part of the task. On reuse, check the purpose of the trip before reusing the preposition: a familiar phrase about collecting equipment may be unsuitable for directions through the building or a note about exchanging one item for another.
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