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Spanish (Spain)

### Expressing cause with por

Use the preposition **por** to express the cause or reason for an event. In this context, it translates to "because of" or "due to".

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### Explaining everyday disruptions

You will often hear **por** used to explain delays or changes of plan caused by bad weather, traffic, or a demonstration. Just place **por** directly before the noun causing the problem.

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### Dealing with major obstacles

When explaining more serious disruptions like a flood, a storm, or ice, use **por** alongside verbs like **cancelar** (to cancel), **bloquear** (to block), or **chocar** (to crash).

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Expressing cause (por)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular subjects and 'ser' (yo soy, esto es)

Plural nouns and definite articles (los, las)

Plural pronouns and 'ser' (somos, sois, son)

Adjective agreement (-o, -a, -os, -as)

Indefinite articles (un, una, unos, unas)

Simple negation (no)

Yes/no questions

Regular '-ar' verbs (-o, -as, -a...)

Regular '-er' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Regular '-ir' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Locative adverbs (aquí, allí)

Question words (quién, cómo)

The verb estar (estoy, estás)

The preposition en (en)

Ser vs. estar

The verb tener (tengo, tienes)

Possessive determiners (mi, tu, su)

Origin and possession (de, del)

The verb ir (voy, vas)

Destination (a, al)

The personal 'a' (a)

Stem-changing verbs: e to ie

Stem-changing verbs: o to ue

Irregular first-person verbs

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, dos, tres)

Numbers 11 to 20 (once, doce, trece)

Counting by tens to 100 (treinta, cuarenta, cien)

Compound numbers up to 99 (veintiuno, treinta y uno)

Days of the week (el lunes, el martes)

The family and the personal 'a' (a mi tío, a mi prima)

Months of the year

Telling time (es la, son las)

Verbs of liking (me gusta)

Plural agreement with verbs of liking (gustan)

Degree modifiers (muy, mucho)

Formal address (usted, ustedes)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

Obligation (tener que)

Present continuous (-ando, -iendo)

Affirmative commands (tú, vosotros)

Basic Food and Drink

The Human Body: Head and Arms

The Human Body: Legs and Health

Wardrobe Essentials

Fresh Produce

Meals and Proteins

Public Transport

Hello and goodbye (hola, ¿qué tal?)

Thank you, sorry, OK (gracias, vale)

There is, there are (hay)

My building (la escalera, el ascensor)

Describing people (moreno, rubio, tímido)

Land and sea (el mar, el río, el norte)

Sightseeing (la plaza, la catedral)

Asking the way (cerca, a la derecha, todo recto)

In class (¿puedes repetir?)

Verb + infinitive (quiero comer, sé leer)

What's your name? (me llamo, encantado)

Phone, computer and email

Hundreds and thousands (doscientos, mil)

What do you do? (¿a qué te dedicas?)

Personal details (la edad, la fecha de nacimiento)

Me neither (también, tampoco, ni)

How much is it? (el precio, la vuelta)

What's the weather like? (hace sol, nieva)

Free time (el concierto, el tenis)

At the bar (¿qué vas a tomar?)

The Natural World

Demonstratives (este, ese, aquel)

Prepositions of place (encima de, debajo de)

Prepositional pronouns (para mí, contigo)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero to décimo)

Adverbs of frequency (a veces, nunca)

Exclamations (¡qué...!)

Indefinite pronouns (algo, alguien)

Indefinite determiners (algún, ningún)

Indirect object pronouns (le, les)

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

Double object pronouns (se lo, se la)

Verbs of preference (encantar, interesar)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Starting and finishing actions (empezar a, terminar de)

Adjective comparatives (más que, menos que)

Comparatives of equality (tan como)

Noun comparatives (tanto como)

Question	Answer
because of (cause)	por
the traffic jam	el atasco
The doctor has arrived late today because of the traffic jam.	La médica ha llegado tarde hoy por el atasco.
We have not been able to catch the train because of a big traffic jam.	No hemos podido coger el tren por un atasco grande.
to cancel	cancelar
the breakdown	la avería
The flight is canceled because of a breakdown.	El vuelo está cancelado por una avería.
This week we have not traveled because of the car's breakdown.	Esta semana no hemos viajado por la avería del coche.
the delay	el retraso
The delay is because of the rain.	El retraso es por la lluvia.
The boss has just sent an email about the delay.	El jefe acaba de enviar un correo sobre el retraso.
the demonstration	la manifestación
The main street is closed today because of the demonstration.	La calle principal está cerrada hoy por la manifestación.
This week I have not gone to the center because of the demonstrations.	Esta semana no he ido al centro por las manifestaciones.
the fog	la niebla
There are many accidents on the road because of the fog.	Hay muchos accidentes en la carretera por la niebla.
The driver has not been able to see the traffic light because of the fog.	El conductor no ha podido ver el semáforo por la niebla.
the flood	la inundación
The bridge is destroyed because of the flood.	El puente está destruido por la inundación.
The school is closed this morning because of the flood.	El colegio está cerrado esta mañana por la inundación.
The director has just canceled the concert because of the storm.	La directora acaba de cancelar el concierto por la tormenta.
Why have you canceled today's meeting?	¿Por qué habéis cancelado la reunión de hoy?
to block	bloquear
The truck has blocked the road because of the ice.	El camión ha bloqueado la carretera por el hielo.
The exit is blocked by the snow.	La salida está bloqueada por la nieve.
the hail	el granizo
The glass roof is broken because of the hail.	El tejado de cristal está roto por el granizo.
My grandfather has not left home because of the hail.	Mi abuelo no ha salido de casa por el granizo.
to crash	chocar
The bus has crashed against the tree because of the ice.	El autobús ha chocado contra el árbol por el hielo.
Today I have had an accident with my wife's car because of the traffic.	Hoy he tenido un accidente con el coche de mi mujer por el tráfico.
Yesterday the driver crashed because of the fog.	Ayer la conductora chocó por la niebla.

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