Por que and porque

EmanuelC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Por que and porque

I would like to ask how they are related and if one can be used instead of the other one

Asked 4 years ago
JohnC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Emanuel,

They can't be substituted for one another. This conversation might explain it for you.

Por qué means "Why?" Por qué estás tan callada? Why are you so quiet?

Porque [one word, no accent] means "because" - Estoy cansado porque llegué tarde a casa anoche ; I am tired because I came home late last night.

John

InmaKwiziq team member

Hola Emanuel

As John just said very correctly "¿por qué?" means "why?" and "porque" (one word, no accent) means "because". But you may be wondering about these other two. Have a look at this C1 lesson.

Difference between por que and porqué

I hope this helps understanding the different meanings and uses of these words. 

Un saludo cordial

Inma

IanC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Lesson says por el que and I assume por los que are commonly used but marked wrong in the test question. Only por que was accepted.

Sometimes por que is a combination of the preposition por + relative pronoun que. In this case it is more common to use it with the article (por el que, por la que...), but it could also be omitted.

Origian questio: 

Los premios competían no eran muy atractivos. (The prizes for which they were competing were not very appealing.)
por los que not allowed.
Por los que HINT: ¿porqué or por que?

Por que and porque

I would like to ask how they are related and if one can be used instead of the other one

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your Spanish level for FREE

Test your Spanish to the CEFR standard

Find your Spanish level
Getting that for you now...