Questions & Answers about Из-за пробки я пришёл позже.
Which case does из-за require?
Из-за governs the genitive. Here пробки is the genitive singular of пробка. Other examples: из-за дождя, из-за ремонта. In plural you’d say из-за пробок (note the correct genitive plural is пробок, not пробков).
Why is из-за written with a hyphen?
It’s a fixed compound preposition made from из + за, and in modern spelling it must have a hyphen: из-за. Don’t write it as two words (из за) or as one word (иза).
Does из-за always mean “because of”?
No. Из-за has two main uses:
- Cause: из-за пробки (because of a traffic jam).
- Motion from behind something: из-за угла (from behind the corner). In this sentence it’s clearly causal.
Given we’re talking about a traffic jam, should it be приехал instead of пришёл?