Surely you have noticed that there are times where it is written in different ways, in some cases accentuated, and has a different meaning depending on the context in which it is written.

Examples:

Todo tiene su porqué. No fui a la fiesta porque no tenía ganas.

When pronouncing the sentences you shouldn’t notice any difference, but when you write it you must know the different uses so as not to make the mistakes that many Spanish speakers do when writing this word.

Today you are going to learn the 4 ways to write this word with definitions and examples of each one of them.

Check it out:

1. Porqué (Reason)

This is a noun that denotes cause or motive and has to carry an accent.

Examples:

No sé el porqué de su decisión (I don’t know the reason for his decision)

de su decisión (I don’t know the reason for his decision) Tú siempre has entendido el porqué de mis actos (You have always understood the reason behind my actions)

2. Porque (because)

Conjunction causal, that is, it explains the cause of the main sentence, and is equivalent in Spanish to the conjunction “pues” or “ya que “: In English could be translated as because.

Example:

No quiero comer porque engordo (I don’t want to eat because I’ll get fat)

engordo (I don’t want to eat because I’ll get fat) Me gusta el pan porque es delicioso (I like bread because it’s delicious)

It is also used when you write the answer to a question “Why?”

¿Por qué decidiste estudiar español? – Porque quiero trabajar en Guatemala

Why did you decide to study Spanish? – Because I want to work in Guatemala

quiero trabajar en Guatemala Why did you decide to study Spanish? – Because I want to work in Guatemala ¿Por qué estudiaste medicina? – Porque mi papá es doctor.

Why did you study medicine? – Because my dad is a doctor.

3. Por qué (Why?)

This is very simple and is equivalent to “Why” in English. And it is used to ask for a reason or cause.

¿Por qué no fuiste ayer a la fiesta? (Why didn’t you go to the party? )

¿Por qué no vas ir a cenar con tus amigos? (Why aren’t you going to have dinner with your friends?)

4. Por que (for which/why)

By joining the preposition “por” and relative pronoun “que”, which refers to an antecedent, and in Spanish equals: el cual, la cual, los cuales, las cuales.

Ésta es la razón por que (por la cual) nos enojamos. (This is the reason for which/why we get angry). But in this sentence it’s also correct to say:Esta es la razón por la que nos enojamos.

(por la cual) nos enojamos. (This is the reason for which/why we get angry). But in this sentence it’s also correct to say:Esta es la razón por la que nos enojamos. No sabemos el motivo por que (por el cual ) dijo eso (We do not know why he said that)

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