Из-за сквозняка у меня утром заболело горло.

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Breakdown of Из-за сквозняка у меня утром заболело горло.

• утром: in the morning
• из-за: because of
• горло: the throat

Questions & Answers about Из-за сквозняка у меня утром заболело горло.

What does из-за mean here, and why is it written with a hyphen?

Here из-за means because of or due to.

So:

• из-за сквозняка = because of the draft

It is a fixed Russian preposition and is normally written with a hyphen: из-за.

A useful extra point: из-за often introduces a cause, especially one with a slightly negative result:

• из-за дождя = because of the rain
• из-за ошибки = because of the mistake

So it fits well with getting a sore throat.

Why is it сквозняка, not сквозняк?

Because из-за requires the genitive case.

The base form is:

• сквозняк = draft, draught

After из-за, it changes to the genitive singular:

• из-за сквозняка

This is a very common pattern:

• из-за ветра = because of the wind
• из-за шума = because of the noise
• из-за болезни = because of illness

What exactly does сквозняк mean?