When explaining why something happened, Russian uses different prepositions depending on whether the cause is positive, neutral, or negative. If an external factor—like bad weather, a traffic jam, or someone's mistake—causes a delay, disruption, or problem, we use the preposition из-за.
Из-за (Genitive Case)
The preposition из-за ("because of" or "due to") always takes the Genitive case.
Let's look at how this works with everyday inconveniences like traffic jams (пробка) or fog (туман):
| We are running late because of the traffic jam. | Мы опаздываем из-за пробки. |
| We were driving slowly because of the fog. | Мы ехали медленно из-за тумана. |
Breaking Down
When talking about machines or equipment failing due to external conditions, use the reflexive verbs ломаться (imperfective) and сломаться (perfective).
| In winter, cars often break down because of the frost. | Зимой машины часто ломаются из-за мороза. |
| My computer broke down because of the thunderstorm. | Мой компьютер сломался из-за грозы. |
Canceling and Delaying
Bad weather and crises often cause plans to change. To express this, you'll need two important verb pairs:
- отменять / отменить: to cancel
- задерживать / задержать: to delay
Notice that it is very common to drop the pronoun and use these verbs in an "anonymous" third-person plural to express what English does with the passive voice ("was canceled" or "was delayed").
| The first bus was canceled because of the snowfall. | Первый автобус отменили из-за снегопада. |
| The flight was delayed because of the fog. | Рейс задержали из-за тумана. |
Blaming People
You can also use из-за with pronouns to place the blame directly on someone for a negative outcome.
| They are delaying us because of you! | Из-за тебя нас задерживают! |
