because

English

Alternative forms

• 'cause, cos, cuz, coz, 'cos, 'cuz, 'coz, b/c

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English (deprecated template usage) bi cause = (deprecated template usage) bi + (deprecated template usage) cause, modelled on (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French (deprecated template usage) par cause

Pronunciation

• (stressed)
  • (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /bɪˈkɒz/
  • (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /biˈkɔz/, /biˈkʌz/
• (unstressed)
  • (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /bɪkəz/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

  Audio (US):

  (file)

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Rhymes: -ɒz
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Hyphenation: be‧cause

Adverb

because (not comparable)

1. (deprecated template usage) (archaic) For the reason (that).
   • 1611, Authorized King James Version of Genesis 2:3:

     And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

2. On account (of), for sake (of).

   I ruined my life because of you!

3. Used alone to refuse to provide a full answer a question begun with "why", often taken as an ellipsis of "Because I said so".

Derived terms

• because of
• just because

Translations

on account

• Arabic: بسبب (bisabab)

  Egyptian Arabic: عشان (ʕaʃān)

  Tunisian Arabic: فِي جُرّةْ (fī jurrit)

• Armenian: քանի որ (kʻani or)
• Bashkir: өсөн (ösön)
• Bulgarian: защото (bg) (zaštoto), поради (bg) (poradi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 因為／因为, 因为 (zh) (yīnwèi)

• Czech: kvůli (cs)
• Danish: på grund af (da)
• Dutch: omdat (nl), dewijl (nl), want (nl), vermits (nl), daar (nl)
• Finnish: takia (fi)
• French: à cause de (fr)
• Georgian: გამო (gamo)
• German: weil (de), denn (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: εξαιτίας (el) (exaitías)
• Italian: perché (it)
• Jamaican Creole: bikaaz, bikaazn
• Latvian: jo (lv), tāpēc
• Macedonian: поради (póradi)
• Malay: kerana (ms)
• Navajo: háálá
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: på grunn av (no)

• Persian: به خاطر (be xâtere)
• Polish: ponieważ (pl), bo (pl) (informal, spoken)
• Portuguese: porque (pt), pois (pt), que (pt)
• Romanian: din cauză că, din cauza
• Russian: из-за (ru) (iz-za)
• Spanish: porque (es)
• Swedish: på grund av (sv)

Conjunction

because

1. By or for the cause that; on this account that; for the reason that.
   • Template:quote-magazine

2. As is known, inferred, or determined from the fact that.

3. (deprecated template usage) (obsolete) So that, in order that. [15th-17th c.]
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.3.2:

     Simon […] set the house on fire where he was born, because nobody should point at it.

Synonyms

• (for the reason that): therefore, since, for, for that, forthy, for sake, forwhy, as, inasmuch as, ∵ (mathematics symbol)

Translations

by or for the cause that; on this account that; for the reason that

• Afrikaans: omdat, aangesien
• Albanian: sepse
• American Sign Language: OpenB@Sfhead Y@FromSfhead
• Arabic: لأن (liʾánna)

  Egyptian Arabic: علشان (ʿalašān), عشان (ʿašān)

  Moroccan Arabic: حيت (Hit), على حقّاش (ʿela ḥeqqaš)

  Tunisian Arabic: عْلَى خَاطِرْ (ʿlā ḥāṭir)

• Aramaic:

  Hebrew: מטל (meṬul)

  Syriac: ܡܛܠ (meṬul)

• Armenian: որովհետև (orovhetew), քանզի (hy) (kʻanzi), քանի որ (kʻani or)
• Aromanian: cã
• Asturian: porque
• Bashkir: сөнки (sönki)
• Belarusian: таму што (tamú što), бо (bo)
• Bengali: কারণ (karôn)
• Breton: peogwir (br), abalamour ma, en abeg ma, rak ma
• Bulgarian: защото (bg) (zaštoto), тъй като (tǎj kato), понеже (bg) (poneže)
• Burmese: လို့ (my) (lui.)
• Catalan: perquè (ca), ja que, car (ca), puix, puix que
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 因為／因为, 因为 (zh) (yīnwèi), (more formal) 由於／由于 (yóuyú), 由于 (zh) (yóuyú)

• Czech: protože (cs)
• Danish: fordi (da)
• Dutch: omdat (nl), aangezien (nl), daar (nl) (formal)
• Egyptian: ḥr

• Esperanto: ĉar
• Estonian: kuna (et), seepärast
• Ewe: elabena
• Finnish: koska (fi)
• French: parce que (fr), car (fr)
• Georgian: იმიტომ რომ (imiṭom rom), რადგანაც (radganac)
• German: weil (de), denn (de), da (de)
• Greek: διότι (el) (dióti), επειδή (el) (epeidí), γιατί (el) (giatí)
• Guernésiais:
• Haitian Creole: paske
• Hawaiian: no, no ka mea, ma, i, ma o, muli
• Hebrew: כִּי (he) (kí), (with a negative consequence) בִּגְלַל שֶׁ־ (biglál)
• Hindi: क्योंकि (kyoṅki)
• Hungarian: mert (hu)
• Icelandic: því (is), af því, því að (is), af því að (is), vegna (is), vegna þess, vegna þess að
• Ido: pro ke (io)
• Indonesian: karena (id), sebab (id)
• Interlingua: proque
• Irish: óir, mar (ga), toisc go

  Old Irish: hóre

• Italian: perché (it)
• Japanese: なぜなら (názenara), だって (datte), (...) から (ja) (kara), ので (node), ために (tameni)
• Khmer: ព្រោះ (km) (bprūah), ពីព្រោះ (km) (bpi-bprūah)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: -이기 때문에 (-igi ttaemune)
• Kurdish: ,

  Sorani: بۆ ئه‌وه (bo ewe), چونکه (çunke)

• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: quia (la), quod (la), quoniam (la), cum (la), propter
• Latvian: jo (lv), tāpēc, tāpēc ka, tādēļ, tādēļ ka
• Lithuanian: nes, todėl, kad
• Lojban:
• Low German: ümdat, dor
• Luxembourgish: well
• Macedonian: затоа што (zatoa što), бидејќи (bídejḱi)
• Malay: kerana (ms), sebab (ms), karena
• Maori: nā te mea, nō te mea, tā te mea, tō te mea
• Mongolian: ягаад гэвэл (mn) (jagaad gevel)
• Navajo: háálá
• Neapolitan: pecché
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fordi (no), ettersom (no), da (no)

  Nynorsk: av di (nn), fordi (nn), ettersom (nn), då (nn)

• Novial:
• Old English: þæs, þæs þe, forþon þe
• Pashto: ځکه چې (źëka če)
• Persian: زیرا (fa) (zirâ), چونکه (fa) (čunke), چون (fa) (čun), بدلیل (fa)
• Pitjantjatjara: -nguru, -languru, panya
• Polish: bo (pl), ponieważ (pl), dlatego że, gdyż (pl)
• Portuguese: porque (pt), já que (pt)
• Romanian: pentru că, din cauză că, datorită, deoarece (ro)
• Russian: потому что (ru) (potomú što), так как (ru) (ták kak), поскольку (ru) (poskólʹku), ведь (ru) (vedʹ), ибо (ru) (íbo) (literary), понеже (ru) (ponéže) (archaic, rare)
• Sanskrit: please add this translation if you can
• Scottish Gaelic: oir
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: је̏р

  Roman: jȅr

• Slovak: pretože
• Slovene: ker (sl)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: dokulaž

• Spanish: porque (es), ya que (es)
• Swedish: därför att (sv), eftersom (sv)
• Tagalog: (literally) dahil
• Talysh:

  Asalemi: چون (cun)

• Thai: เพราะ (th) (práw)
• Tibetan: གང་ཡིན་ཟེར་ན (gang yin zer na)
• Turkish: çünkü (tr)
• Ukrainian: бо (uk) (bo), тому (tomú), тому що (tomú ščo), так як (ták jak), оскiльки (oskílʹky), адже (uk) (ádže), внаслiдок (vnaslídok), унаслiдок (unaslídok)
• Urdu: کیونکہ (kyoṅki)
• Vietnamese: tại vì, vì (vi), bởi vì
• Walloon: paski (wa), ca (wa)
• Welsh: achos (cy), oherwydd
• West Frisian: meidat, omdat, mei't, om't (fy)

as known because; as inferred because; as determined because

• Finnish: koska (fi), sillä (fi)
• German: denn (de)
• Macedonian: бидејќи (bídejḱi)
• Pashto: ځکه چې (źëka če)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: porque (pt)
• Romanian: deoarece (ro)
• Scottish Gaelic: oir

Preposition

because

1. (uncommon, slang, especially Internet) On account of, because of. [since at least the 20th century]
   • 2012 October 20, "D.F. Manno" (username), GOP deadbeat dad: No abortion exceptions because SCIENCE!, in alt.fan.cecil-adams, Usenet
   • 2013 November 19, Megan Garber, English Has a New Preposition, Because Internet:

     Linguists are recognizing the delightful evolution of the word "because."

     Let's start with the dull stuff, because pragmatism.

   • 2013 December 6, Donald Glover (Childish Gambino), Because the Internet

Derived terms

• because reasons

Statistics

• Template:rank

References

• Glossa, volume 17 (1997), page 175: cf. Emonds 1976:175 on the analysis of Modern English because as a preposition introducing a clause