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Como hay una inundación en la ciudad, buscamos una alternativa.

Como hay una inundación en la ciudad, buscamos una alternativa.
Since there is a flood in the city, we look for an alternative.
From Lesson 152:Causal clauses (como)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Como hay una inundación en la ciudad, buscamos una alternativa.

Why does 'como' mean 'since' here instead of 'like' or 'how'?
When como is placed at the very beginning of a sentence to connect two ideas, it usually translates to 'since' or 'because'. It sets up the cause (the flood) for the action that follows (looking for an alternative). Notice that it doesn't have an accent mark here, unlike the question word cómo (how).
Could we use 'porque' (because) at the beginning of the sentence instead of 'como'?
You generally shouldn't. In Spanish, porque usually goes in the middle of a sentence to connect two ideas (e.g., Buscamos una alternativa porque hay una inundación). If you want to put the reason at the very beginning of the sentence, using como is the most natural choice.
Why isn't there a word for 'for' after 'buscamos'?
The verb buscar inherently means 'to look for' or 'to search for'. You don't need to add an extra word like por or para. Saying buscamos por is a common mistake for English speakers, but buscamos una alternativa is all you need.
Both 'inundación' and 'ciudad' are feminine. Are there rules to help remember their gender?
Yes! Nouns that end in -ción (like inundación) and nouns that end in -dad (like ciudad) are almost always feminine in Spanish. That is why they are paired with the feminine words una and la in this sentence.

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