Swedish edit

Conjunction edit

därför att (subordinating conjunction)

  1. for the reason that ...; because, since, as
    – Varför kan jag inte få en glass nu? – Därför att vi alldeles strax ska äta middag.
    – Why can't I have an ice cream now? – Because (for the reason that) we're just about to have dinner.
    De skjuter på oss därför att de tror vi är onda andar
    They're shooting at us because (for the reason that) they think we're evil spirits

Usage notes edit

Compare:

Eftersom de tror vi är onda andar (så) skjuter de på oss
De skjuter på oss därför att de tror vi är onda andar

Similar to how "For the reason that they think we're evil spirits, they're shooting at us" is unusual phrasing in English, "eftersom" sounds more natural in the first sentence. In the second sentence, both "därför att" and "eftersom" sound natural. "Därför att" can more or less always be replaced with "eftersom" or "för att."

Compared to "eftersom" and "för att," "därför att" has a flavor of being somewhat more formal, strict, and indicating that the line of argument needed is not necessarily trivial (somewhat similar to "for the reason that ...")

See also edit