Questions & Answers about We waren te laat vanwege de drukte.
Why do we use vanwege here instead of omdat?
vanwege is a preposition meaning "because of" or "due to," so it is followed by a noun phrase like de drukte. If you wanted to use omdat (because), you would need a full clause with a verb at the end, such as omdat het druk was.
Could I use wegens instead of vanwege in this sentence?
Yes, wegens de drukte means exactly the same thing. vanwege is slightly more common in everyday spoken Dutch, while wegens can sound a tiny bit more formal, like in official announcements. Both are perfectly fine here.
Does de drukte specifically mean a crowd of people?
It can, but not necessarily. de drukte literally means "the busyness." It is the standard Dutch way to refer to heavy traffic, a crowded place, or general chaos. If you are late for work, de drukte usually implies traffic on the road.
Does vanwege change the word order like omdat does?
No, it does not. Because vanwege is a preposition (like "in" or "op"), it just introduces a short phrase. It doesn't push any verbs to the end of the sentence like subordinating conjunctions do.