Breakdown of Вчера солнце выглянуло из-за облаков.
вчера
yesterday
солнце
sun
из-за
because of; from behind
облако
the cloud
Questions & Answers about Вчера солнце выглянуло из-за облаков.
Why do we use из-за here instead of just из?
из-за is a compound preposition meaning "from behind" (combining из "out of" and за "behind"). If you used из by itself, it would mean the sun came out of the inside of the clouds, but из-за specifically paints the picture of it appearing from behind them.
Doesn't из-за also mean "because of"?
Yes! When followed by the Genitive case, из-за is very commonly used to mean "because of" or "due to" (usually for an external or negative cause, like "because of the weather"). In this sentence, however, we are seeing its literal, physical meaning: "from behind".
What case follows из-за here?
из-за always requires the Genitive case. That is why the noun облако (cloud) is in its Genitive plural form, облаков.
Why is the ending for облаков -ов? Don't neuter nouns usually drop their ending in the Genitive plural?
You are right that many neuter nouns have a "zero ending" in the Genitive plural (for example, окно becomes окон, and слово becomes слов). However, облако is an exception. It takes the -ов ending, just like most masculine nouns do.