Por el atasco, llegamos con retraso a la reunión.

Because of the jam, we arrive late to the meeting.

Breakdown of Por el atasco, llegamos con retraso a la reunión.

• nosotros: we
• a: to
• la reunión: the meeting
• llegar: to arrive
• .: period
• ,: comma
• por: because of
• el atasco: the jam
• con retraso: late

Questions & Answers about Por el atasco, llegamos con retraso a la reunión.

Why does the sentence start with Por el atasco and have a comma? Could it also go at the end?

Por el atasco is an adverbial phrase of cause: because of the traffic jam. In Spanish, you can place it:

• At the beginning (more emphasis on the cause):
  
  • Por el atasco, llegamos con retraso a la reunión.
• At the end (more neutral):
  
  • Llegamos con retraso a la reunión por el atasco.

The comma after Por el atasco is standard when a clause or phrase of cause, time, etc. comes before the main clause. It separates the introductory phrase from the main sentence.

If you move por el atasco to the end, you normally do not use a comma:

• Llegamos con retraso a la reunión por el atasco.

Why is it por el atasco and not something like porque del atasco?

Porque and por don’t work the same way:

• porque normally introduces a clause (with a verb):

  • Llegamos con retraso porque había atasco.
    (We arrived late because there was a traffic jam.)

• por is a preposition and goes before a noun:

  • Llegamos con retraso por el atasco.
    (We arrived late because of the traffic jam.)

Porque del atasco is ungrammatical in standard Spanish. If you want porque, you need a full clause: porque había un atasco, porque hubo un atasco, etc.

Can I use other expressions instead of por el atasco, like a causa del atasco or debido al atasco?

Yes, and they’re quite common:

• A causa del atasco, llegamos con retraso a la reunión.
• Debido al atasco, llegamos con retraso a la reunión.

Nuance:

• por el atasco – very common, neutral and natural in speech.
• a causa de / debido a – a bit more formal or written, but still normal in everyday use.

All three express cause and are correct in Spain.

What exactly does atasco mean? Is it the same as “traffic”?

Atasco literally means jam or blockage. In this context, it means traffic jam.

• atasco (de tráfico) → vehicles are stuck or moving very slowly.
• tráfico → general traffic, not necessarily jammed.

So:

• Hay mucho tráfico. – There are many cars on the road.
• Hay un atasco. – There is a traffic jam.

Other words you might see in Spain:

• embotellamiento – also traffic jam; a bit more formal.
• caravana – line of slow-moving cars (often on holidays).

In Latin America, other words are common (trancón, taco, etc.), but in Spain atasco is the everyday word.

Why is it el atasco and not un atasco?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different nuances:

• Por el atasco, llegamos con retraso…
  Suggests a specific, known jam (for example, the one on the ring road everyone knows about at that time of day), or just “the traffic jam” as a specific event you both have in mind.

• Por un atasco, llegamos con retraso…
  Presents it as “a/one traffic jam” without assuming the listener knows which one. It’s more indefinite.

In many real-life contexts in Spanish, speakers use the definite article el even if English might use a. Using el atasco here sounds very natural.

What does con retraso mean, and how is it different from tarde?

Both express lateness but with different flavour:

• con retraso = with a delay / delayed

  • Sounds a bit more formal and is very common with scheduled things:
    • El tren llega con retraso.
    • El vuelo salió con retraso.
    • Llegamos con retraso a la reunión.

• tarde = late (adverb)

  • Very common and more general:
    • Llegamos tarde a la reunión.
    • Siempre llegas tarde.

In this sentence, you could say:

• Por el atasco, llegamos con retraso a la reunión. (slightly more formal / neutral)
• Por el atasco, llegamos tarde a la reunión. (very everyday and natural)

Both are correct in Spain.

Why is it con retraso and not de retraso?

In Spanish, con is the standard preposition used with retraso to mean “with delay / delayed”:

• Llegó con retraso.
• El vuelo sale con retraso.

De retraso would mean something else or sound wrong here. With retraso in the sense of “delay,” the fixed, idiomatic collocation is con retraso.

Why is it a la reunión instead of para la reunión or en la reunión?

The preposition a indicates destination / direction:

• Llegamos a la reunión. – We arrived at the meeting.

Comparisons:

• para la reunión

  • Usually expresses purpose:
    
    • Preparamos unos documentos para la reunión.
      (We prepared some documents for the meeting.)

• en la reunión

  • Means in/at the meeting (already there):
    
    • En la reunión hablamos de muchos temas.
      (In the meeting we talked about many topics.)

So in your sentence, a la reunión is correct because it’s about arriving to that event/location.

Which tense is llegamos here: present or past?

The form llegamos (from llegar) is the same for:

• Present tense, 1st person plural:
  
  • Llegamos a las ocho todos los días.
    (We arrive at eight every day.)
• Preterite (simple past), 1st person plural:
  
  • Ayer llegamos a las ocho.
    (Yesterday we arrived at eight.)

In your sentence:

• Por el atasco, llegamos con retraso a la reunión.

Without extra context, it’s ambiguous in isolation, but in real use this kind of sentence is normally understood as preterite (past) because you’re usually explaining a specific delay that already happened (like reporting what happened today).

Context (like ayer, esta mañana, etc.) clarifies it in real conversations.

Why isn’t nosotros used? Why just llegamos?

Spanish usually omits subject pronouns (yo, tú, nosotros…) because the verb ending already shows the subject:

• Llegamos can only be “we arrive / we arrived.”

You only add nosotros if you want to emphasize or contrast:

• Nosotros llegamos con retraso, pero ellos llegaron a tiempo.

So the natural version is simply:

• Por el atasco, llegamos con retraso a la reunión.

Is it possible to write Por el atasco llegamos con retraso a la reunión without a comma?

Yes, you will see both:

• Por el atasco, llegamos con retraso a la reunión.
• Por el atasco llegamos con retraso a la reunión.

The comma is recommended because Por el atasco is an introductory phrase, but in everyday writing many people omit it. It’s not a serious mistake; it’s more a matter of style and clarity.

Can I use tráfico instead of atasco, like Por el tráfico, llegamos con retraso…?

You can, but it slightly changes the nuance:

• Por el atasco, llegamos con retraso…

  • Emphasizes the traffic jam itself – vehicles blocked or barely moving.

• Por el tráfico, llegamos con retraso…

  • Emphasizes heavy traffic in general – many cars, maybe slow, maybe not a complete jam.

In everyday Spanish from Spain, Por el atasco… is the most typical way to blame a proper traffic jam for being late.