because

English

Alternative forms

• (obsolete) bycause, (dialectal) becos
• (slang) 'cause, cos, cuz, coz, 'cos, 'cuz, 'coz, b/c, bc, bcos, bcoz, bcs, bcz, bcus
• (logic) ∵

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (stressed)
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /bɪˈkɒz/, /bɪˈkʌz/, (dated) /bɪˈkɔːz/, /bɪˈkɔːs/

    • Audio (London):

      (file)

  • (US) IPA^(key): /biˈkɔz/, /biˈkʌz/, /bəˈkɔz/, /bəˈkʌz/, /bɪˈkɔz/, /bɪˈkʌz/

    • Audio (US):

      (file)

  • (New England, obsolete) IPA^(key): /bɪˈkeɪz/
• (unstressed)
  • IPA^(key): /bɪkəz/
• Hyphenation: be‧cause
• Rhymes: -ɒz, -ʌz, -ɔːz, -ɔːs

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 I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     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[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     “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: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, 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, on account of (southern slang), forthy, for sake, forwhy (obsolete), as, inasmuch as, sith (obsolete), ∵ (mathematics symbol); see also Thesaurus:because

Derived terms

• because is why
• because you touch yourself at night
• for 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 (liʔanna)

  Egyptian Arabic: علشان (ʕalašān), عشان (ʕašān)

  Hijazi Arabic: لإن (liʔinn), لأن (liʔann), عشان (ʕašān)

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

  North Levantine Arabic: لأنو (leʔanno)

  South Levantine Arabic: لأنو (leʔanno)

  Tunisian Arabic: عْلَى خَاطِرْ (ʕlā xāṭer)

  Yemeni Arabic: علشان (ʕalašān)

• Aramaic:

  Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܣܵܒܵܒ (sābāb), ܡܸܛܠ (miṭṭul)

  Hebrew: מִטּוּל (miṭṭūl)

  Syriac: ܡܛܠ (meṭṭūl)

• Armenian: որովհետև (hy) (orovhetew), քանզի (hy) (kʻanzi), քանի որ (kʻani or), զերե (hy) (zere)
• Aromanian: cã
• Asturian: porque (ast)
• Azerbaijani: çünki (az), ona görə ki
• Bashkir: сөнки (sönki)
• Belarusian: таму́ што (tamú što), бо (bo)
• Bengali: কারণ (bn) (karon), কেননা (bn) (kenona)
• 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)

  Hokkien: 因為／因为 (zh-min-nan) (in-ūi)

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

• 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), siksi että
• 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 (kyõki)
• 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) (at the beginning of a clause), だって (ja) (datte), (...) から (ja) (kara), ので (ja) (node), ために (tame ni)
• K'iche': -umal, ma xa, ma
• Kabyle: acku
• Kaqchikel: -uma, oma
• Kashubian: bò
• Kazakh: өйткені (öitkenı), себебі (sebebı)
• Khmer: ព្រោះ (km) (prŭəh), ពីព្រោះ (km) (pii prŭəh)
• Konkani: ಇತ್ಯಮ್ಹಳೆರಿ (ityamhaḷeri)
• Korean: 왜냐하면 (ko) (waenyahamyeon) (at the beginning of a clause), (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), ເພາະວ່າ (phǫ wā)
• Latin: quia (la), quod (la), quoniam (la), cum (la), prō eō quod, proptereā quod
• Latvian: jo (lv), tāpēc, tāpēc ka, tādēļ, tādēļ ka
• Lithuanian: nes, todėl, kad
• Livonian: sīest, sīestõ
• Low German: ümdat, dor (nds)
• Lü: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: well
• 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
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: потомушто (potomušto)

• Mbyá Guaraní: mba'e ta
• Mon: please add this translation if you can
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: яагаад гэвэл (jaagaad gevel), болохоор (boloxoor)

• Mwani: konta, kamana
• Navajo: háálá
• Neapolitan: pecché
• Nepali: किनकि (kinaki)
• 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:

  Iranian Persian: زیرا (fa) (zirâ), چونْکِه (fa) (čunke), چون (fa) (čun), بِدَلیل (fa) (bedalil), بَرایِ این‌کِه (barâ-ye in-ke)

• Pitjantjatjara: -nguru, -languru, panya
• Pohnpeian: ahki
• 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 (ro), 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, air sgàth, air sàilleabh, a chionn, air àrainn, ri linn, airson, thoradh, do bhrìgh
• 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, pues (es)
• Sranan Tongo: bikasi
• Swahili: kwa sababu (sw)
• Swedish: därför att (sv), eftersom (sv)
• Tagalog: (literally) dahil
• Tajik: чунки (tg) (čunk-i), чун (čun), зеро (zero)
• Talysh:

  Asalemi: چون (cun)

• Tatar: чөнки (çönki)
• Thai: เพราะ (th) (prɔ́), เพราะว่า (prɔ́-wâa)
• 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 (uk) (tomú), тому́ що (tomú ščo), та́к як (ták jak), оскі́льки (oskílʹky), а́дже (uk) (ádže), внаслі́док (vnaslídok), унаслі́док (unaslídok)
• Urdu: کْیون٘کِہ (kyoṅki)
• Uyghur: چۈنكى (chünki)
• Uzbek: negaki (uz), chunki (uz)
• Venetan: parché (vec)
• Vietnamese: tại vì, vì (vi), bởi vì (vi)
• 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 (bn) (kenona)
• Danish: på grund af
• Finnish: koska (fi), sillä (fi), siksi että
• Georgian: გამო (gamo)
• German: denn (de)
• Hungarian: mivel (hu), ugyanis (hu), minthogy (hu)
• Latin: quoniam (la), cum (la), quippe quī, quandoquidem, prō eō quod
• Macedonian: бидејќи (bidejḱi)
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: потомушто (potomušto)

• 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

Adverb

because (not comparable)

1. On account, for sake [with of].

   My life is ruined because of you!

2. (obsolete) For the reason [with that].
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 2:3:

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

Derived terms

• because of
• because one can
• becauseness
• because you say so
• just because
• no because

Translations

on account (of) — see because of

for the reason (that) — see because

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked‌: "on account"

• Afrikaans: want (af)
• Albanian: sepse (sq), ngaqë (sq)
• Arabic: لِأَنَّ (liʔanna), بِسَبَب (bisabab), لِأَجْلِ (liʔajli)

  Egyptian Arabic: علشان (ʕalašān), عشان (ʕašān), لأن (liʔinn), بسبب (bisábab)

  Gulf Arabic: عشان (ar) (ʕašān), علشان (ar) (ʕalašān)

  Hijazi Arabic: عشان (ʕašān), علشان (ʕalašān), بسبب (bisabab)

  North Levantine Arabic: لإنو (laʾinno), لأنو (leʾanno)

  South Levantine Arabic: لأنّه (liʔanno), عشان (ʕašān), علشان (ʕalašān)

  Tunisian Arabic: فِي جُرّةْ (fī jurrit)

• Armenian: քանի որ (kʻani or)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܸܢ ܥܸܠܲܬ (min ˁillat), ܒܗ̇ܝ ܕ- (b-ay d-), ܡܸܢ ܕ- (min d-)
• Bashkir: өсөн (ösön)
• Belarusian: з-за (z-za), праз (praz)
• Bengali: জন্য (bn) (jonno)
• Bulgarian: защо́то (bg) (zaštóto), поради́ (bg) (poradí)
• Carpathian Rusyn: затоже (zatože)
• Catalan: perquè (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 因為／因为 (jan¹ wai⁶)

  Dungan: йинви (yinvi)

  Hokkien: 因為／因为 (zh-min-nan) (in-ūi)

  Mandarin: 因為／因为 (zh) (yīnwèi)

• Czech: kvůli (cs)
• Esperanto: pro (eo)
• Finnish: takia (fi), koska (fi) (slang, rare), vuoksi (fi), tähden (fi), johdosta (fi), johtuen (fi), ansiosta (fi)
• French: à cause de (fr), parce que (fr), à cause que (fr)
• Galician: porque (gl), alor
• Georgian: გამო (gamo)
• Greek: εξαιτίας (el) (exaitías)

  Ancient: ἕνεκα (héneka)

• Hebrew: בִּגְלַל (he) (biglál)
• Ido: nam (io)
• Italian: perché (it), poiché (it), siccome (it)
• Jamaican Creole: bikaaz, bikaazn
• Japanese: …のせいで (ja) (... no sei de), …のために (ja) (... no tame ni)
• Kazakh: өйткені (öitkenı), себебі (sebebı)
• Korean: ... 때문에 (ko) (... ttaemun-e)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ji ber ku (ku)

• Latin: propter (+acc.), ob (la) (+acc.), ex (la) (+abl.), causā (la) (+gen.), prō (la) (+abl.)
• Latvian: jo (lv), tāpēc
• Lithuanian: nes
• Macedonian: поради (poradi)
• Malay: kerana (ms), sebab (ms)
• Navajo: háálá
• Old English: for (+dative)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: بِخاطِر (fa) (bexâter), بِه خاطِر (be xâter), چون (fa) (čun)

• Polish: ponieważ (pl), bo (pl) (informal, spoken), gdyż (pl), albowiem (pl), bowiem (pl), abociem (pl) (archaic), wszak (pl), dlatego że (pl), przez (pl)
• Portuguese: porque (pt), pois (pt), que (pt), por causa de (pt), devido a (pt)
• Romanian: datorită (ro) (positive consequence), din cauza (negative consequence), deoarece (ro)
• Russian: и́з-за (ru) (íz-za)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: збо̏г

  Roman: zbȍg

• Slovak: kvôli
• Slovene: zaradi (sl)
• Spanish: por (es), debido a, a causa de
• Swahili: kwa sababu (sw)
• Tagalog: dahil
• Tamil: ஏனென்றால் (ta) (ēṉeṉṟāl)
• Turkish: yüzünden (tr)
• Ukrainian: че́рез (čérez), з-за (z-za), і́з-за (íz-za), завдяки́ (zavdjaký)
• Yiddish: ווײַל (vayl)

Interjection

because

1. 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".

Translations

word used in place of an answer to "why"

• Afrikaans: sommer (af)
• Arabic: هكذا (hākaḏā), بلا سبب (bilā sabab)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܗܵܕܟ݂ܵܐ (hādḵā), ܗܵܕܲܟ݂ (hādaḵ)
• Bengali: কারণ (bn) (karon)
• Catalan: perquè (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 沒有為什麼／没有为什么 (méiyǒu wéishénme), 沒為什麼／没为什么 (méi wéishénme)

• Czech: protože proto, proto (cs)
• Dutch: daarom (nl)
• Finnish: koska (fi), syystä että, siksi että, siksi (fi)
• 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 (ja) (dōshitemo)
• Korean: 아무튼 (ko) (amuteun), 여하튼 (ko) (yeohateun)
• Latin: quoniam (la)
• Malay: sebab (ms), pasal (ms)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fordi (no)

• Polish: bo tak
• Portuguese: porque sim (positive), porque não (negative)
• Romanian: de-aia, fiindcă (ro)
• Russian: потому́ что (ru) (potomú što)
• Spanish: porque sí (positive), porque no (negative)
• Swedish: därför (sv)
• Tagalog: dahil
• Tatar: чөнки (çönki)
• Turkish: öyle işte, işte (tr), -dığı için

Preposition

because

1. (colloquial, Internet slang) On account of, because of. [from 20th c. or before]

   He rejected me because revenge, I guess.

   It doesn't work because reasons.

   • 2013 November 19, Megan Garber, “English Has a New Preposition, Because Internet”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:

     You probably know it better, however, as explanation by way of Internet—explanation that maximizes efficiency and irony in equal measure. I'm late because YouTube. You're reading this because procrastination. As the language writer Stan Carey delightfully sums it up: “‘Because’ has become a preposition, because grammar.”

Derived terms

• because reasons

References

• Bingham, Caleb (1808) “Improprieties in Pronunciation, common among the people of New-England”, in The Child's Companion; Being a Conciſe Spelling-book […] ‎^[2], 12th edition, Boston: Manning & Loring, →OCLC, page 74.
• Glossa, volume 17 (1997), page 175: cf. Emonds 1976:175 on the analysis of Modern English because as a preposition introducing a clause

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English because.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi.koz/

• Audio:

  (file)

Preposition

because

1. (colloquial) Synonym of à cause de (“because of”)

   La fenêtre était ouverte because la chaleur aoûtienne, si moite. ― The window was open because of the muggy August heat.