Learn Spanish (Latin America): El tren tarda mucho por la huelga. - The train takes a long time because of the strike.

In this sentence, por expresses the cause or reason for something happening. The strike is the reason the train is delayed. Whenever you want to say "because of" or "due to" a noun (like a strike, the rain, or traffic), you use por.

Can I use porque instead of por here?

No, you can't use porque right before a noun. Porque means "because" and must be followed by a conjugated verb (for example: porque hay una huelga - because there is a strike). Since la huelga is just a noun phrase, you must use por to mean "because of".

Why does tarda mean "takes"? Wouldn't I use a form of tomar?

Tomar means "to take" in the sense of grabbing an object, taking a bus, or drinking. However, when talking about how much time an action takes or how long a delay is, Spanish uses the specific verb tardar. So, el tren tarda mucho translates to "the train takes a long time."

The English translation says "a long time", but the Spanish just says mucho. Do I need to add tiempo?