How to decide to use por (for because) versus porque (as in the example above):
Would it be correct to use porque in these examples? How would one know which to use (por vs porque)?
Ha salido en la televisión por tener quince minutos de fama.
He's been on TV because he was famous for fifteen minutes.
Va a estudiar medicina por seguir la tradición familiar.
She is studying medicine because it's family tradition.
Hola Jim
The clause using "por" is followed by an infinitive; the clause using "porque" is followed by a conjugated verb:
Ha salido en la televisión por tener quince minutos de fama.
Ha salido en la televisión porque quería tener quince minutos de fama.
(He's been on TV because he wanted to be famous for fifteen minutes.)
You wouldn't be able to use por with a conjugated verb or porque with an infinitive. This would be incorrect:
Saludos
Inma
Thanks Inma! For the purpose of conveying the meaning (in Spanish) of 'being on TV because he was famous for 15 minutes', I assume that both of these sentences would be correct:
Ha salido en la televisión por tener quince minutos de fama.
Ha salido en la televisión porque quería tener quince minutos de fama
Is one of these more commonly used by a native speaker, or would it (just) be a matter of preference (assuming that both are grammatically correct)?
How to decide to use por (for because) versus porque (as in the example above):
Would it be correct to use porque in these examples? How would one know which to use (por vs porque)?
Ha salido en la televisión por tener quince minutos de fama.
He's been on TV because he was famous for fifteen minutes.
Va a estudiar medicina por seguir la tradición familiar.
She is studying medicine because it's family tradition.
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Test your Spanish to the CEFR standard
Find your Spanish level