Breakdown of Мой компьютер сломался из-за грозы.
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
компьютер
computer
из-за
because of; from behind
сломаться
to break down (pf) / to break
гроза
thunderstorm
Questions & Answers about Мой компьютер сломался из-за грозы.
Why use из-за here instead of потому что?
Потому что means "because" and is used to connect two full phrases that each have a subject and a verb. Here, we need "because of" followed by just a noun (грозы). For this, we use the preposition из-за, which is perfect for pointing out a negative or external cause.
Why is the word for thunderstorm written as грозы?
The dictionary form is гроза, which is a feminine noun. The preposition из-за always requires the following noun to be in the Genitive case. For feminine nouns ending in -а, the Genitive ending changes to -ы, giving us грозы.
Why does the verb сломался end with -ся?
The -ся ending is reflexive, meaning the action happens to the subject itself rather than to a direct object. If you used the standard active verb сломал, it would mean the computer broke something else! Adding -ся gives us компьютер сломался (the computer broke down).
Why is the verb сломался in the perfective aspect here?
The breakdown was a single, completed event in the past that produced a clear result: the computer is currently broken. If you used the imperfective form (ломался), it would imply that the computer was repeatedly breaking down over a period of time.
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