{"id":2712,"date":"2011-04-29T15:35:03","date_gmt":"2011-04-29T19:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/?p=2712"},"modified":"2011-04-29T15:35:03","modified_gmt":"2011-04-29T19:35:03","slug":"%c2%bfpor-que-por-que-porque","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/%c2%bfpor-que-por-que-porque\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00bfPor qu\u00e9, por qu\u00e9… ? Porque…"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are some words and expressions that can be quite confusing, but not only for those of you who are learning the language, but even for native speakers themselves. That’s the case of porqu\u00e9, porque, por qu\u00e9 <\/strong>and por que. <\/strong>Let’s remember how to use them.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por qu\u00e9<\/strong> has the meaning of \u201cwhy\u201d, so we’ll use it always in interrogative sentences. We will always have the accent in the interrogative pronoun \u201cqu\u00e9\u201d:<\/p>\n

-\u00bfPor qu\u00e9<\/strong> estamos aqu\u00ed?<\/em> (Why are we here?)<\/p>\n

-\u00bfPor qu\u00e9<\/em><\/strong> cierran tan pronto<\/em>? (Why do they close so soon?)<\/p>\n

But not only will we find it in sentences with question marks. There are also examples of exclamative sentences, and obviously indirect questions where we will use \u201cpor qu\u00e9<\/strong>\u201d too:<\/p>\n

–Quiero saber por qu\u00e9<\/strong> has llegado tarde.<\/em> (I want to know why you are so late.)<\/p>\n

– No comprendo por qu\u00e9<\/strong> te enfadas<\/em>. (I don’t understand why you get angry.)<\/p>\n

– \u00a1Por qu\u00e9<\/strong> calles m\u00e1s bonitas pasamos!<\/em> (What beautiful streets we walk by!)<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Porqu\u00e9 <\/strong>is a masculine noun, meaning \u201creason\u201d, and there will be a determiner preceding it in most cases:<\/p>\n

–Todo tiene su porqu\u00e9<\/strong>.<\/em> (Everything has its reason.)<\/p>\n

–Me gustar\u00eda saber los porqu\u00e9s<\/strong> de su cambio<\/em>. (I’d like to know the reasons for his change.)<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Porque <\/strong>usually introduces a cause related clause, meaning \u201cbecause\u201d. In this case we can use puesto que<\/em><\/strong> or ya que <\/em><\/strong>instead of porque<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

– No<\/em> fui porque<\/strong> (ya que, puesto que) me levant\u00e9 tarde.<\/em> (I didn’t go because I got up late.)<\/p>\n

– No me gusta porque<\/strong> es muy cabezona.<\/em> (I don’t like her because she’s so stubborn.)<\/p>\n

We can find it too introducing final clauses:<\/p>\n

– Hice cuanto pude porque<\/strong> no terminara as\u00ed.<\/em> (I did all I could so that it didn’t end this way.)<\/p>\n

And it is used in to answer questions beginning with \u00bfPor qu\u00e9…?<\/strong><\/p>\n

– \u00bfPor qu\u00e9 no viniste? <\/em>Porque<\/em><\/strong> no quise.<\/em> (Why didn’t you come? Because I didn’t want to.)<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por que <\/strong>can be used in different combinations:<\/p>\n

Que<\/em><\/strong> as a relative pronoun and por<\/em><\/strong> being a preposition. We usually have an article (el, la<\/em>)\u00a0 preceding the pronoun,\u00a0 and it can be translated as\u00a0 \u201cfor which\u201d, and most commonly \u201cthat\u201d or \u201cwhy\u201d<\/p>\n

– El motivo por el que<\/strong> llegu\u00e9 tarde es que perd\u00ed mis llaves<\/em>. (The reason why I was late was that I lost my keys.)<\/p>\n

– No sabemos la raz\u00f3n por<\/strong> (la) que<\/strong> dijo eso<\/em>. (We don\u00b4t know the reason why he said so.)<\/p>\n

Por que<\/em><\/strong> also occurs when using verbs, nouns or adjectives which need a complement or a subordinate clause introduced by the preposition \u201cpor<\/em><\/strong>\u201d:<\/p>\n

– Tu madre se preocupa por que<\/strong> comas sano. <\/em>(Your mum is worried about your eating healthily.)<\/p>\n

And that’s all for today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are some words and expressions that can be quite confusing, but not only for those of you who are learning the language, but even for native speakers themselves. That’s the case of porqu\u00e9, porque, por qu\u00e9 and por que. Let’s remember how to use them. Por qu\u00e9 has the meaning of \u201cwhy\u201d, so we’ll…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3364,358365],"class_list":["post-2712","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar","tag-questions","tag-grammar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t