because

English

Alternative forms

• bycause, becos, 'cause, cos, cuz, coz, 'cos, 'cuz, 'coz, b/c, bc, bcus

Etymology

From Middle English bi cause, from bi (“by”) + cause, modelled on Old French par cause.

Pronunciation

• (stressed)
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /bɪˈkɒz/
  • (UK, dated) IPA^(key): /bɪˈkɔːz/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /biˈkɔz/, /biˈkʌz/, /bəˈkʌz/
• (unstressed)
  • IPA^(key): /bɪkəz/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒz
• Hyphenation: be‧cause
• Rhymes: -ɑːz

Adverb

because (not comparable)

1. (archaic) For the reason (that).
   • 1611, Authorized King James Version of Genesis 2:3:

     And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

2. On account (of), for sake (of).

   My life is ruined because of you!

3. (by ellipsis) Used alone to refuse to provide a full answer a question begun with "why", usually taken as an anapodoton of the elided full phrase "Because I said so".

Derived terms

• because of
• just because

Translations

on account

• Albanian: sepse (sq), ngaqë (sq)
• Arabic: بِسَبَب‎ (bisabab), لِأَجْلِ‎ (liʾajli)

  Egyptian Arabic: علشان‎ (ʿalašān), عشان‎ (ʿašān)

  Levantine Arabic: منشان‎ (menšēn);

  Tunisian Arabic: فِي جُرّةْ‎ (fī jurrit)

• Armenian: քանի որ (kʿani or)
• Bashkir: өсөн (ösön)
• Bulgarian: защото (bg) (zaštoto), поради (bg) (poradi)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 因為, 因为 (jan¹ wai⁶)

  Dungan: йинви (yinvi)

  Mandarin: 因為 (zh), 因为 (zh) (yīnwèi)

• Czech: kvůli (cs)
• Danish: på grund af
• Dutch: omdat (nl), dewijl (nl), want (nl), vermits (nl), daar (nl)
• Esperanto: pro (eo)
• Finnish: takia (fi)
• French: à cause de (fr), parce que (fr), à cause que (fr)
• Galician: porque (gl), alor
• Georgian: გამო (gamo)
• German: wegen (de)
• Greek: εξαιτίας (el) (exaitías)

  Ancient: ἕνεκα (héneka)

• Hebrew: בגלל‎ (biglál)
• Hungarian: miatt (hu)
• Icelandic: vegna (is)

• Ido: nam (io)
• Italian: perché (it), imperciocchè, poiché (it), siccome (it)
• Jamaican Creole: bikaaz, bikaazn
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ji ber ku (ku)

• Latvian: jo (lv), tāpēc
• Lithuanian: nes
• Macedonian: поради (poradi)
• Malay: kerana (ms), sebab (ms)
• Navajo: háálá
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: på grunn av (no)

• Old English: for
• Persian: به خاطر‎ (be xâtere), چون‎ (fa) (čon)
• Polish: ponieważ (pl), bo (pl) (informal, spoken), gdyż (pl), albowiem (pl), bowiem (pl), abociem (pl) (archaic), wszak (pl), dlatego że (pl)
• Portuguese: porque (pt), pois (pt), que (pt), por causa de (pt), devido a (pt)
• Romanian: datorită (positive consequence), din cauza (negative consequence)
• Russian: и́з-за (ru) (íz-za)
• Rusyn: затоже (zatože)
• Serbo-Croatian: zbog
• Slovene: zaradi (sl)
• Spanish: porque (es)
• Swahili: kwa sababu
• Swedish: på grund av (sv)
• Tamil: ஏனென்றால் (ta) (ēṉeṉṟāl)

word used in place of an answer to "why"

• Arabic: هكذا‎ (hākaḏā), بلا سبب‎ (bilā sabab)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 沒有為什麼, 没有为什么 (méiyǒu wéi shénme)

• Czech: protože proto, proto (cs)
• French: parce que c'est comme ça, parce que (fr)
• German: deshalb (de), darum (de), deswegen (de)
• Greek: γιατί έτσι (giatí étsi), έτσι (el) (étsi)
• Hebrew: כָּכָה‎ (he) (kácha)
• Hungarian: csak (hu)

• Italian: perché sì
• Japanese: どうしても (dōshitemo)
• Portuguese: porque sim (positive), porque não (negative)
• Korean: 아무튼 (ko) (amuteun), 여하튼 (ko) (yeohateun)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fordi (no)

• Polish: bo tak
• Romanian: de-aia, fiindcă (ro)
• Spanish: porque sí (positive), porque no (negative)
• Swedish: därför (sv)
• Turkish: öyle işte, işte (tr)

Conjunction

because

1. By or for the cause that; on this account that; for the reason that.

   I hid myself because I was afraid.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:

     I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.

   • 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:

     In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.

   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 17, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     “Perhaps it is because I have been excommunicated. It's absurd, but I feel like the Jackdaw of Rheims.”  ¶ She winced and bowed her head. Each time that he spoke flippantly of the Church he caused her pain.

2. As is known, inferred, or determined from the fact that.

   It must be broken, because I pressed the button and nothing happened.

   I don't think he is a nice person, because he yells at people for no reason.

3. (obsolete) So that, in order that. [15th-17th c.]
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 54573970, partition II, section 3, member 2:

     Simon […] set the house on fire where he was born, because nobody should point at it.

Synonyms

• (for the reason that): therefore, since, for, for that, forthy, for sake, forwhy (obsolete), as, inasmuch as, sith (obsolete), ∵ (mathematics symbol); see also Thesaurus:because

Translations

by or for the cause that; on this account that; for the reason that

• Abkhaz: избанзар (izbanzar)
• Afrikaans: omdat (af), aangesien (af)
• Albanian: sepse (sq)
• American Sign Language: OpenB@Sfhead Y@FromSfhead
• Arabic: لِأَنَّ‎ (liʾanna)

  Egyptian Arabic: علشان‎ (ʿalašān), عشان‎ (ʿašān)

  Levantine Arabic: لأنو‎ (laʾanno)

  Moroccan Arabic: حيت‎ (ḥīt), حيتاش‎ (ḥītāš), على حقاش‎ (ʿla ḥaqqāš), لنو‎ (linnu)

  Tunisian Arabic: عْلَى خَاطِرْ‎ (ʿlā xāṭer)

• Aramaic:

  Hebrew: מִטּוּל‎ (miṭṭūl)

  Syriac: ܡܛܠ‎ (miṭṭūl)

• Armenian: որովհետև (orovhetew), քանզի (hy) (kʿanzi), քանի որ (kʿani or)
• Aromanian: cã
• Asturian: porque (ast)
• Azerbaijani: çünki (az)
• Bashkir: сөнки (sönki)
• Belarusian: таму́ што (tamú što), бо (bo)
• Bengali: কারণ (karôn), কেননা (kênôna)
• Breton: peogwir (br), abalamour ma, en abeg ma, rak ma
• Bulgarian: защо́то (bg) (zaštóto), тъй като́ (tǎj kató), поне́же (bg) (ponéže)
• Burmese: လို့ (my) (lui.)
• Catalan: perquè (ca), ja que (ca), car (ca), puix (ca), puix que
• Chichewa: chifukwa
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 因為, 因为 (jan¹ wai⁶)

  Hakka: 因為, 因为 (yîn-vi), 因爭, 因争 (yîn-chên)

  Mandarin: 因為 (zh), 因为 (zh) (yīnwèi), (more formal) 由於 (zh), 由于 (zh) (yóuyú)

  Min Nan: 因為 (zh-min-nan), 因为 (in-ūi)

• Crimean Tatar: çünki
• Czech: protože (cs)
• Danish: fordi (da), eftersom, da (da)
• Dutch: omdat (nl), aangezien (nl), daar (nl) (formal)
• Egyptian: (ḏr ntt), (n ntt), (ḥr ntt), (ḥr)
• Esperanto: ĉar (eo)
• Estonian: kuna (et), seepärast, sest (et)
• Ewe: elabena
• Faroese: tí, tí at
• Finnish: koska (fi)
• French: parce que (fr), car (fr), à cause que (fr)
• Georgian: იმიტომ რომ (imiṭom rom), რადგანაც (radganac), რადგან (radgan), გამო (gamo)
• German: weil (de), denn (de), da (de)
• Greek: διότι (el) (dióti), επειδή (el) (epeidí), γιατί (el) (giatí)

  Ancient: γάρ (gár), ἐπεί (epeí), διότι (dióti), ὅτι (hóti), ὡς (hōs), οὕνεκα (hoúneka), διό (dió)

• Haitian Creole: paske
• Hawaiian: no, no ka mea, ma, i, ma o, muli
• Hebrew: כִּי‎ (he) (kí), בִּגְלַל שֶׁ־‎ (biglál she-) (with a negative consequence)
• Hindi: क्योंकि (kyoṅki)
• Hungarian: mert (hu), mivel (hu)
• Icelandic: því (is), af því, því að (is), af því að (is), vegna (is), vegna þess, vegna þess að, út af því að
• Ido: pro ke (io)
• Indonesian: karena (id), sebab (id)
• Interlingua: proque
• Irish: óir, mar (ga), toisc go, arae, de bhrí go

  Old Irish: hóre

• Italian: perché (it)
• Japanese: なぜなら (ja) (nazenara), だって (ja) (datte), (...) から (ja) (kara), ので (ja) (node), ために (tame ni)
• Kabyle: acku
• Kazakh: өйткені (öytkeni), себебі (sebebi)
• Khmer: ព្រោះ (km) (prʊəh), ពីព្រោះ (km) (pii-prʊəh)
• Korean: (이기) 때문에 ((-igi) ttaemune)
• Kumyk: неге тюгюл (nege tügül)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بۆ ئەوە‎ (bo ewe), چونکە‎ (çunke)

  Northern Kurdish: çimkî (ku), ji ber ku (ku)

• Kyrgyz: анткени (ky) (antkeni), себеби (ky) (sebebi)

• Ladin: ajache
• Lao: ເພາະ (phǫ), ເນື່ອງ (nư̄ang), ແຕ່ເນື່ອງຈາກ (tǣ nư̄ang chāk)
• Latin: quia (la), quod (la), quoniam (la), cum (la), propter
• Latvian: jo (lv), tāpēc, tāpēc ka, tādēļ, tādēļ ka
• Lithuanian: nes, todėl, kad
• Livonian: sīest, sīestõ
• Low German: ümdat, dor (nds)
• Luxembourgish: well
• Lü: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: затоа што (zatoa što), бидејќи (bidejḱi)
• Malay: kerana (ms), sebab (ms), karena (ms)
• Maltese: minħabba, għaliex
• Manchu: ᠣᡶᡳ (ofi), ᠰᡝᠮᡝ (seme)
• Maore Comorian: mana
• Maori: nā te mea, nō te mea, tā te mea, tō te mea
• Mon: please add this translation if you can
• Mongolian: яагаад гэвэл (yaagaad gevel), болохоор (bolokhoor)
• Mwani: konta, kamana
• Navajo: háálá
• Neapolitan: pecché
• Norman: passequé (Guernsey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fordi (no), ettersom (no), da (no)

  Nynorsk: av di, fordi, ettersom, då

• Occitan: perque
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: пон҄еже (ponʹeže)

• Old English: for þon þe
• Old Polish: tegodla
• Pashto: ځکه چې‎ (źëka če)
• Persian: زیرا‎ (fa) (zirâ), چونکه‎ (fa) (čunke), چون‎ (fa) (čun), بدلیل‎ (fa); برای این‌که‎ (barâye inke)
• Pitjantjatjara: -nguru, -languru, panya
• Polish: bo (pl), ponieważ (pl), dlatego że (pl), gdyż (pl), albowiem (pl), bowiem (pl), abociem (pl) archaic, wszak (pl)
• Portuguese: porque (pt), já que (pt)
• Romani: kaj
• Romanian: pentru că, din cauză că, datorită, deoarece (ro)
• Romansch: perquai che, damai che
• Russian: потому́ что (ru) (potomú što), та́к как (ru) (ták kak), поско́льку (ru) (poskólʹku), ведь (ru) (vedʹ), и́бо (ru) (íbo) (literary), поне́же (ru) (ponéže) (archaic, rare)
• Sanskrit: उपजीव्य (sa) (upajīvya), हि (sa) (hi)
• Scottish Gaelic: oir
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: је̏р, је̏рбо (archaic)

  Roman: jȅr (sh), jȅrbo (sh) (archaic)

• Slovak: pretože
• Slovene: ker (sl)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: dokulaž

• Spanish: porque (es), ya que (es), por cuanto
• Swahili: kwa sababu
• Swedish: därför att (sv), eftersom (sv)
• Tagalog: (literally) dahil
• Tajik: чунки (tg) (čunki), чун (čun), зеро (zero)
• Talysh:

  Asalemi: چون‎ (cun)

• Tatar: чөнки (çönki)
• Thai: เพราะ (th) (prɔ́)
• Tibetan: གང་ཡིན་ཟེར་ན (gang yin zer na), ཙང (tsang), ག་རེ་ཡིན་ཟེར་ན (ga re yin zer na)
• Turkish: çünkü (tr)
• Turkmen: çünki, zerarly (tk), sebäbi
• Ukrainian: бо (uk) (bo), тому́ (tomú), тому́ що (tomú ščo), та́к як (ták jak), оскі́льки (oskílʹky), а́дже (uk) (ádže), внаслі́док (vnaslídok), унаслі́док (unaslídok)
• Urdu: کیونکہ‎ (kyoṅki)
• Uzbek: negaki (uz), chunki (uz)
• Venetian: parché (vec)
• Vietnamese: tại vì, vì (vi), bởi vì
• Walloon: paski (wa), ca (wa)
• Welsh: achos (cy), oherwydd
• West Frisian: meidat, omdat, mei't, om't (fy)
• Wolof: ndax (wo)
• Yiddish: ווײַל‎ (vayl), וואָרעם‎ (vorem), וואָרן‎ (vorn), מחמת‎ (makhmes), נאַכסאָל‎ (nakhsol)
• Zealandic: om'a
• Zhuang: aenvih

as known because; as inferred because; as determined because

• Bengali: কেননা (kênôna)
• Danish: på grund af
• Finnish: koska (fi), sillä (fi)
• Georgian: გამო (gamo)
• German: denn (de)
• Hungarian: mivel (hu), ugyanis (hu), minthogy (hu)
• Latin: quia (la)

• Macedonian: бидејќи (bidejḱi)
• Old English: for þon þe
• Pashto: ځکه چې‎ (źëka če)
• Portuguese: porque (pt)
• Romanian: deoarece (ro)
• Russian: потому́ что (ru) (potomú što)
• Scottish Gaelic: oir
• Slovene: saj
• Spanish: ya que (es), por cuanto

Preposition

because

1. (uncommon, slang, nonstandard, especially Internet) On account of, because of. [since at least the 20th century]

Derived terms

• because reasons

References

• Glossa, volume 17 (1997), page 175: cf. Emonds 1976:175 on the analysis of Modern English because as a preposition introducing a clause