Breakdown of Submarinul s-a întors din cauză că se stricase.
din cauză că
because (of the fact that)
se întoarce
to come back, to return
se strica
to break down
submarinul
the submarine
Questions & Answers about Submarinul s-a întors din cauză că se stricase.
Why use din cauză că instead of just pentru că here?
While pentru că is a neutral way to say because, din cauză că specifically implies a negative reason or cause. Since a submarine breaking down is a bad thing, din cauză că fits perfectly here.
Could we use the phrase din pricină că from this lesson instead?
Why is the verb se stricase in this specific tense rather than the standard past tense s-a stricat?
The verb se stricase is in the pluperfect tense (mai mult ca perfectul), which translates to had broken down. It is used here to clearly show that the breakdown happened before the other past action, returning (s-a întors).
Both verbs in this sentence are reflexive (s-a întors and se stricase). Why?
In Romanian, verbs describing a change of state or spontaneous movement often use the reflexive pronoun se when there is no external direct object causing the action. The submarine is doing the action to itself: it returned itself (a se întoarce) and it broke down on its own (a se strica).