Because of/ thanks to in Spanish
In Spanish, when we want to say that something happens "because of" someone or something we can use the phrase "por culpa de". To express the opposite sentiment, i.e. that something happens "thanks to" something/someone we can use "gracias a". Let's see how they work:
Por culpa de
Por culpa de is followed by a common noun or a proper noun.
No hemos podido salir en todo el día por culpa de la lluvia.We haven't been able to go out all day because of the rain.
Gracias a
Gracias a is followed by a common noun, a proper noun or a subordinate clause (generally using the indicative),
El problema se resolvió gracias a la intervención del profesor.The problem was solved thanks to the teacher's intervention.
Gracias a que
Gracias a que is constructed the same way as when you use "porque":
- Pudimos celebrar nuestra boda gracias a que nuestros padres nos ayudaron económicamente.
- Pudimos celebrar nuestra boda porque nuestros padres nos ayudaron económicamente.
Note that gracias a que could also be translated as "because" as well as "thanks to".
Generally, we use "por culpa de" for something with a "negative result" and "gracias a (que)" for something with a "positive result", but sometimes, when we talk "ironically" we can swap them. For example, we could say:
There are other phrases using "culpa" and "gracias", that use different constructions to those described above, for example:
- using a possessive
- using a pronoun
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