Today, we are learning a bit of very useful French vocabulary. We are learning how to say because in French.
There are 4 ways to say because in French. But they aren’t all used for the same thing.
Which use should you use? Let’s see. (below you’ll find more detailed explanations than in the video, especially for the advanced learners).
Because in French - Short version
👇 Because in French - Long version 👇
How to say because in French - Parce que
The most standard way to say Because in French, is Parce que.
Parce que. In two words 😉
Let’s take a look at a few examples.
Je ne vais pas à l’école, parce que je suis malade.
= I am not going to school because I am sick.
Easy peasy right?
Parce que is put in between two propositions (a proposition is a piece of sentence that can stand on its own).
Check out my article on French sentence structure here.
You need two propositions to build a sentence with Parce que.
In this example:
Je ne vais pas à l’école = first proposition
Je suis malade = second proposition
Look at those other examples:
Je ne parle pas français parce que je n’ai pas envie
= I am not speaking French because I don’t want to
Tu n’as pas eu ton diplôme parce que tu n’as pas assez étudié.
= You didn’t get your diploma because you didn’t study enough.
Although, you might find Parce que in single proposition sentences when it is an answer to a question.
Pourquoi tu es là? Parce que je t’aime.
= Why are you here? Because I love you.
Pourquoi lu es fâché? Parce que tu m’énerves.
= Why are you mad? Because you’re annoying.
In some case, you’ll find the propositions inverted. Starting with Parce que. This is more formal, and you will mostly find it in written French.
Parce que je ne parle pas français, je n’ai pas eu le job.
= Because I don’t speak French, I didn’t get the job.
How to say because in French #2 - Car
If you need to be a bit more formal, you can use car.
Careful though, don’t overuse it because it would make you sound like you are trying too much to be formal. (This might be a personal bias, but trying too hard to be formal is soooo annoying to me aha)
It works exactly like Parce que, meaning you do need two propositions to use it.
A few examples:
Je suis en retard car j’ai pris le bus.
= I am late because I took the bus.
Je vous appelle car je cherche un stage pour cet été.
= I am calling you because I’m looking for an internship for this summer.
Again here, you can use it to start a proposition if it’s an answer to a question.
Pourquoi est ce que ce poste vous interesse? Car j’aime les enfants.
= Why does this position interest you? Because I like children.
Although, you cannot invert the propositions with it. ⚠️
Now, vocabulary isn't enough, you need to retain it too!
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So you want to learn French. That’s great. Maybe it’s been a life-long dream and you are ready to put in the work it needs.
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Have you ever learned a whole list of vocabulary by heart, would it be expressions, words or phrases, just to realise a few weeks later than you totally forgot it?
How to say because in French #3 - À cause de / Grâce à
Finally, we only have two ways left – à cause de and grâce à.
If you’re a beginner, you don’t need to read further, just get started with the two that you already learned here 😉
(How often does a teacher tell you NOT to learn this? ahh But seriously, don’t. Less is more. Learn other words first. I suggest, this, or this, or this.)
I’m going to present them to you together because they are used in different situations. Both could be translated by because, but they are more precise than this.
Grâce à is positive.
À cause de is negative.
Here’s what I mean.
Je suis en retard à cause du bus.
= I am late because of the bus.
Je suis à l’heure grâce à ma mère.
= I am on time thanks to my mum.
In the first example, being late is a negative consequence of whatever the bus did.
In the second, being on time is a positive consequence of whatever my mum did.
Merci Maman 🤗
La grâce literally means grace, charm, gracefulness,… Obvious positive qualities.
Not to be confused with la graisse – pronounced differently – which is the fat (duck fat, as well as body fat).
Une cause – is simply a cause, a reason. Pssst… like in… beCAUSE 🥰
HOWEVER, you might have spotted they do not work like parce que and car – they do not start a proposition.
Both grâce à and à cause de are prepositions – that’s the fancy grammatical word. But in short, it means it introduces new information to a specific part of the sentence.
In very short, it means it’s not introducing a full proposition (that could be a sentence), but only a few more words, generally a noun.
Je suis à l’heure grâce à ma mère.
Je suis en retard à cause du bus.
That said, you can do the fancy switch with those two as well (although casual in this instance, because it won’t form a complete sentence).
Tu as réussi à arriver à l’heure? Grâce à ma mère!
= You managed to arrive on time? Thanks to my mum!
Pourquoi est-ce que tu es en retard? À cause du bus.
= Why are you late? Because of the bus.
Grâce à ma mère, je suis à l’heure.
À cause du bus, je suis en retard.
Little side note: à and de do change according to what’s behind them.
All good? Try to make some sentences yourself you champion 🥰
