Did you ever ask yourself what is the difference between porque and porqué? If so, our Spanish school El Rincón del Tándem tells you about these two Spanish words and the circumstances under which we should use one or another.
Enjoy your reading!
Porque and porqué would be the same word if it wasn’t for the acute accent. Although at first glance the difference between the two Spanish words seems to be very little, they function very differently and belongs to different grammatical categories.
To begin with, porqué is a noun while porque is a conjunction.
So, let’s go a step further and see in detail how to correctly use both in a sentence.
PORQUE
Porque is a conjunction; i.e. an invariable part of a speech that link words, phrases and clauses together.
As a conjunction, porque can be used as:
– Casual conjunction.
In this case, it introduces a subordinate clause that expresses the cause of the action in the main clause.
Examples:
Ayer no cené porque no tenía hambre = Yesterday I didn’t have dinner because I was not hungry
Voy al mercado porque necesito comprar verduras = I am going to the market because I need to buy some vegetables
– Final conjunction.
Porque introduces a subordinate clause expressing the purpose of the action in the main clause. In this case, porque may be replaced by para que.
Examples:
Bajé la música porque pudieras descansar = I turned down the volume of the music so that you could rest
Hice todo lo posible porque te sintiera cómoda = I made great efforts to make you feel comfortable
– To introduce answers to questions starting with Por qué
Example:
> ¿Por qué no abres la ventana?
> Porque tengo frío
> Why don’t you open the window?
> Because I am cold
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When porque introduces a causal clause the verb is the indicative mood. On the contrary, when introducing a final clause, the verb of this subordinate clause is in the subjunctive mood.
Let’s see the example below:
No fui a la playa / porque tenía dolor de cabeza – CAUSAL CLAUSE (Indicative)
Salí pronto del trabajo / porque llegara a tiempo al teatro – FINAL CLAUSE (Subjunctive)
Besides, porque as final conjunction can be found either as a single or two-words noun (por que).
On the contrary, when it function as a causal conjunction, we can only write it as a single word.
PORQUÉ
Porqué is a masculine noun. It is a synonym of “reason”, “cause”. When functioning as a noun, porqué is preceded by a determiner, i.e. definite or indefinite articles, possessive adjectives, etc.
Because it is a noun, porqué can be also used in the plural form.
Examples:
Marta no explicó el porqué de su decisión = Marta did not explain the reason of her choice
Si Paco está enfadado tendrá su porqué = Paco has his reasons to be angry
Me gustaría saber los porqués de tu comportamiento infantil = I would like to know the reasons of your childish behaviour
We hope this blog will help you understand the difference between porque and porqué and to avoid mistakes.
As usual we encourage you to improve your language skills by learning new Spanish words and use them in real life situations.
Lastly, we remind you that our Spanish school El Rincón del Tándem keep teaching Spanish online. Get in contact with us to know more!
See you soon!
