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When explaining why something happened, Italian uses compound prepositions. The phrase you choose depends on whether you are simply stating an objective cause or pointing fingers to assign blame.

### Objective causes with "a causa di"

When a delay, cancellation, or problem is due to an external, neutral reason (like bad weather or traffic), use **a causa di** (due to / because of) followed by a noun or pronoun.

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If the noun following the phrase requires a definite article, the preposition **di** must combine with it (e.g., *di* + *il* = *del*, *di* + *la* = *della*).

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### Assigning blame with "per colpa di"

When someone or something is at fault for a negative outcome—like a mistake, laziness, or irresponsibility—use **per colpa di** (literally "through the fault of"). 

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Just like with *a causa di*, remember to combine **di** with the definite article if the noun requires one.

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### Contrasting cause and blame

You will often hear these two phrases contrasted when deciding whether a bad outcome was an unavoidable accident or someone's specific fault.

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Expressing cause and blame (a causa di, per colpa di)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
due to, because of	a causa di
the cause	la causa
The plane will be delayed due to a serious problem.	L'aereo sarà in ritardo a causa di un grave problema.
to cancel (an event, order)	annullare
the bad weather	il maltempo
They canceled the festival because of the bad weather.	Hanno annullato il festival a causa del maltempo.
the interruption	l'interruzione
There is a service interruption due to a breakdown.	C'è un'interruzione del servizio a causa di un guasto.
because of, through the fault of	per colpa di
the laziness	la pigrizia
We did not finish the project because of your laziness.	Non abbiamo finito il progetto per colpa della tua pigrizia.
the traffic jam	l'ingorgo
It is six o'clock! We are late because of this traffic jam.	Sono le sei! Siamo in ritardo a causa di questo ingorgo.
We will have many problems because of that mistake.	Avremo molti problemi per colpa di quello sbaglio.
the disorganization	la disorganizzazione
The system does not work because of the disorganization.	Il sistema non funziona a causa della disorganizzazione.
the damage	il danno
the irresponsibility	l'irresponsabilità
You did serious damage because of your irresponsibility.	Hai fatto un grave danno per colpa della tua irresponsabilità.
There is a terrible traffic jam due to the bad weather.	C'è un ingorgo terribile a causa del maltempo.
We must cancel the meeting because of this interruption.	Dobbiamo annullare la riunione a causa di questa interruzione.
You are late because of your laziness, not due to the traffic jam!	Sei in ritardo per colpa della tua pigrizia, non a causa dell'ingorgo!
What time is it? We are late because of the group's disorganization.	Che ore sono? Siamo in ritardo per colpa della disorganizzazione del gruppo.
It will be a huge failure because of his irresponsibility.	Sarà un grande fallimento per colpa della sua irresponsabilità.
Did they lose the match because of Marco or due to the bad weather?	Hanno perso la partita per colpa di Marco o a causa del maltempo?
We cancel the meeting because of the damage.	Annulliamo la riunione a causa del danno.
Laziness is the cause of the problem.	La pigrizia è la causa del problema.
What is the cause of the damage?	Qual è la causa del danno?

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