Breakdown of Директор отменил встречу из-за болезни.
встреча
meeting
директор
director
из-за
because of; from behind
болезнь
illness, disease
отменить
to cancel (pf)
Questions & Answers about Директор отменил встречу из-за болезни.
Why do we use из-за here instead of потому что?
потому что means "because" and is used to connect two full clauses, each with a subject and a verb. из-за means "because of" and is a preposition followed directly by a noun, which is exactly what happens here with болезни.
Does из-за always imply a negative reason like being sick?
Mostly, yes. из-за is typically used for negative or frustrating external causes that disrupt plans, like an illness or bad weather. If you wanted to say "thanks to" for a positive reason, you would use the preposition благодаря.
Why does the word for illness change to болезни?
The preposition из-за requires the following noun to be in the Genitive case. The dictionary form is болезнь, which is a feminine noun ending in a soft sign. To form the Genitive case, that soft sign drops and becomes -и.
Why is the word for meeting spelled встречу here?
The noun встреча is the direct object receiving the action of being canceled, so it needs to be in the Accusative case. For feminine nouns ending in -а, the ending changes to -у in the Accusative.
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