9.4 Cause, reason and consequence

We typically express cause or reason with because, e.g.:

We stayed at home because it was raining. (Nos quedamos en casa porque llovía.)

Because the first train was late, we missed the connection. (El primer tren llegaba con retraso y, por tanto, perdimos la correspondencia.)

We can also use since and as, most usually when the information is not new, e.g.:

The weather was terrible. Since/As the weather was so bad, we decided to stay at home. (Hacía un tiempo horrible. Como hacía mal tiempo, decidimos quedarnos en casa.)

We can also express cause or reason with the prepositions because of, due to and owing to, e.g.:

We stayed at home because of the rain. (Nos quedamos en casa por la lluvia.)

The newspaper claims that the accident was due to human error. (El periódico sostiene que el accidente se debió a un error humano.)

Owing to shortage of supplies, production is delayed. (Como faltan suministros, la producción va atrasada.)

Notice that we do not usually express cause or reason with for, but for is used for criminal activities, etc., e.g.:

Jones was sent to prison for theft/shoplifting. (Condenamos a Jones a la prisión por robo/robar en tiendas.)

The girls were punished for copying in the exam. (Las chicas fueron castigadas por copiar durante el examen.)

We typically express consequence with so, e.g.:

It was raining so we stayed at home. (Llovía y, por tanto, nos quedamos en casa.)

There was a bus strike so a lot of people had to walk to work. (Hubo una huelga de autobuses y, por tanto, mucha gente tenía que ir al trabajo andando.)

More formally we can express consequence with a new sentence that begins with consequently or therefore, e.g.:

Many of the reports have been critical. Consequently/Therefore it has been decided ... (Muchos informes han sido críticos. Como consecuencia, se ha decidido...)

Compare purpose clauses.

	For for and since, see also Ago, since, for and during. See also Subordinate clauses.