# that's why / that's because



## little curly

Hola, estoy estudiando oraciones de causa y efecto y me encontré con *That's why* y *that's because,* son lo mismo? no entiendo la diferencia si la hay. Gracias por su ayuda. Little curly


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## david314

Welcome to the forum, little curly !

I would say that they are different, but you must provide context, examples.


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## jooorsh

I've got one, 

"-I don't remember any of this...
-That's because according to that report it's wasn't you, that this was happened to"

why you use here  "that's because" and not "that's why"???
greetings!


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## Tengu

little curly said:


> Hola, estoy estudiando oraciones de causa y efecto y me encontré con *That's why* y *that's because,* son lo mismo? no entiendo la diferencia si la hay. Gracias por su ayuda. Little curly


Por lo que yo sé no la hay, se supone que why es para preguntar, pero that's why/because es como, es por eso, esa es la razón, eso es porque, supongo que, etc.


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## gengo

jooorsh said:


> "-I don't remember any of this...
> -That's because according to that report it's wasn't you, that this was happened to"
> 
> why you use here  "that's because" and not "that's why"???



The second sentence is incorrect English, and should be "That's because according to that report it wasn't you that this happened to."  

Es porque según ese informe, no fuiste tú, el que a quien esto pasó.

I'm not sure of the translation of that last part, but I hope you get the idea.

"That's why" is definitely different from "that's because."  They are not interchangeable.


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## jooorsh

dude the sentence isn't incoherent cos' this has been extracted from the movie "me, myself and irene", and its meaning it's contained there. So, if you're so kind, would you explain me, and to the other people like little curly for example, the different between "that's  why" and "that's because" please? Thank you in advance.


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## gengo

jooorsh said:


> dude the sentence isn't incoherent cos' this has been extracted from the movie "me, myself and irene", and its meaning it's contained there. So, if you're so kind, would you explain me, and to the other people like little curly for example, the different between "that's  why" and "that's because" please? Thank you in advance.



Jooorsh, calling me "dude" isn't appropriate in the context of this forum.  I tell you this only to improve your English skill.

I didn't say the sentence was incoherent.  I said it was incorrect, and there is no doubt at all about that.  No native English speaker would ever say "That's because according to that report *it's* wasn't you, that this *was* happened to."  The "it's" is just plain wrong, and the comma is unnecessary since there is no pause there.  The "was" is incorrect and sounds horribly unnatural.

that's  why = that is the reason for
that's because = that is the result of

Ex.
-I found a half-eaten sandwich on the table.

-That's because I was too full to finish it.  (The leftover sandwich is the result of my being full.)
-That's why there were ants in the kitchen!  (The leftover sandwich is the reason the ants came into the kitchen.)

In English, the two forms are never (as far as I can think) interchangeable.  "That's why" will often be translated as "Por eso...," and "that's because" as "es porque," or "es que," or "lo que pasa es que," etc.


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## goodytwoshoes

Se me ocurrió otro ejemplo.

Teenage son to father: "My buddy went to the bar last night and got drunk and wrecked his car."
Father: "Son, that's because he went there and that's why I don't want you to go."

Saludos


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## gengo

goodytwoshoes said:


> Se me ocurrió otro ejemplo.
> 
> Teenage son to father: "My buddy went to the bar last night and got drunk and wrecked his car."
> Father: "Son, that's because he went there and that's why I don't want you to go."



Exactly.  His wreck was the *result* of his having gone to the bar, and it is also the *reason* the father doesn't want the son to go.


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## jooorsh

gengo said:


> Jooorsh, calling me "dude" isn't appropriate in the context of this forum.  I tell you this only to improve your English skill.
> 
> I didn't say the sentence was incoherent.  I said it was incorrect, and there is no doubt at all about that.  No native English speaker would ever say "That's because according to that report *it's* wasn't you, that this *was* happened to."  The "it's" is just plain wrong, and the comma is unnecessary since there is no pause there.  The "was" is incorrect and sounds horribly unnatural.
> 
> that's  why = that is the reason for
> that's because = that is the result of
> 
> Ex.
> -I found a half-eaten sandwich on the table.
> 
> -That's because I was too full to finish it.  (The leftover sandwich is the result of my being full.)
> -That's why there were ants in the kitchen!  (The leftover sandwich is the reason the ants came into the kitchen.)
> 
> In English, the two forms are never (as far as I can think) interchangeable.  "That's why" will often be translated as "Por eso...," and "that's because" as "es porque," or "es que," or "lo que pasa es que," etc.





Thank you very much for your explanation buddy Sin embargo hay una cosa sobre mi ejemplo que no me calza, que ilustro con los dos screenshots adjuntos.
Saludos!


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## gengo

Jooorsh, note that the words in the second screenshot are different from what you wrote.  They are correct, but not what you wrote in your messages here.

No me acuerdo de nada de esto.
Es porque...
La razón es que...
Es que...
etc.


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## Oldy Nuts

Jooorsh, just some thoughts that may help you while in this forum:

1. It is by no means a common practice here to call other participants "dude", "buddy" or anything similar. I would even say that it's just the opposite.

2. The fact that an expression (or a sentence) appears in a film, or even in a book, is no guarantee that it is correct.

3. You don't explain what is it that doesn't fit in your example, and the screenshots are anything but self-explanatory. The first one is an example strictly in line with the explanation given by gengo. And the second one is unrelated to the matter under discussion, although it does coincide with what gengo explained in message #5 above when he corrected a sentence of yours, except for the change of tense from "happened to" to "is happening to".


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## Tengu

Eso de que es el resultado de.. no lo había leído en ninguna parte ni tampoco lo habría deducido. Gracias!


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## jooorsh

gengo said:


> Jooorsh, note that the words in the second screenshot are different from what you wrote.  They are correct, but not what you wrote in your messages here.
> 
> No me acuerdo de nada de esto.
> Es porque...
> La razón es que...
> Es que...
> etc.



Sí, o sea, sólo el *it's* estaba mal, pero el *was* que dijeron que estaba mal al parecer es correcto


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## usuario.080611

Entiendo entonces que la diferencia entre las dos sentencias se basa en la causalidad. ¿Cierto?


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## Oldy Nuts

jooorsh said:


> Sí, o sea, sólo el *it's* estaba mal, pero el *was* que dijeron que estaba mal al parecer es correcto



Por favor, lo que se te dijo que estaba mal, y muy clara y justamente, es el "it's wasn't".


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## gengo

jooorsh said:


> Sí, o sea, sólo el *it's* estaba mal, pero el *was* que dijeron que estaba mal al parecer es correcto



Jooorsh, please read all of the above messages again carefully.  You will see that you originally wrote "that this was happen*ed* to."  In that sentence fragment, "was" is most definitely incorrect.  There is no possible way a native speaker would say that.  

The screenshot you provided says "that this was happen*ing* to."  That version is correct, because the present continuous form takes the be verb, but the past participle of an intransitive verb does not.


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## Íncubo

According with the Bing Translator: Search in the Google, I cannot put the URL.

We have:

English:
The second sentence is incorrect English, and should be "That's because according to that report it wasn't you that this happened to." 
"-I don't remember any of this...
-That's because according to that report it's wasn't you, that this was happened to"
In my opinion there are two possibilities:
-That's because according to that report it wasn't you, was not because of you that this happened.
-That's because according to this report this not happened to you.

Spanish:


La segunda frase es incorrecta y debe ser "Que es porque de acuerdo con ese informe no era que esto le pasó a".

"-Yo no recuerdo nada de esto...
-Eso es porque según ese informe no ha que esto fue pasado a "

En mi opinión, hay dos posibilidades:

-Eso de porque según ese informe no fue usted, no fue por causa de vosotros que esto ocurrió.

-Eso de porque según este informe, esto no sucedió a usted.

Espero ter ajudado. (Portuguese)
I hope have helped.
Espero haber ayudado.


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## Oldy Nuts

Íncubo said:


> According with the Bing Translator:
> 
> 
> ...
> 
> Espero ter ajudado. (Portuguese)
> I hope have helped.
> View attachment 10933Espero haber ayudado.



Unfortunately you haven't. It will be years before machine translators can be trusted, and you have provided an excellent example of this.


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## albionlover

That's why: Es por eso por lo que
That's because: Eso es porque
A: "Tengo hambre"
B: "Eso es porque no has comido" (no sería correcto decir "es por eso por lo que no has comido"

A: "No quiero engordar""
B: "Es por eso por lo que no has comido" (no sería correcto decir "eso es porque no has comido")


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## Íncubo

albionlover said:


> That's why: Es por eso por lo que
> That's because: Eso es porque
> A: "Tengo hambre"
> B: "Eso es porque no has comido" (no sería correcto decir "es por eso por lo que no has comido"
> 
> A: "No quiero engordar""
> B: "Es por eso por lo que no has comido" (no sería correcto decir "eso es porque no has comido")



Pity. I have tried... It was my attempt to understand the message expressed from the subtitle of
the movie, respect to the words of why and because I'm totally agree. Lamentably I haven't watched the film too. 
Sorry, good luck for you all.


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## k-in-sc

([unclear] ... *I *totally agree. *Unfortunately,* I haven't *seen* the movie *either ... *good luck* to* you all)

For the record, the dialogue is: 
I-l don't remember any of this. - That's because ... according to that report,* it wasn't you* *that this was happening to.*
- It was this other guy. - Hank.


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## aztlaniano

little curly said:


> *That's why* y *that's because,* son lo mismo?


No.

That's why - debido a eso (con ese motivo, por esa razón)
That's because - eso se debe a (eso es consecuencia de)

I ran out of coffee. That's why I went to the store. 
I didn't buy any coffee. That's because I didn't have enough money.

I didn't buy any coffee. That's why I can't offer you any.
I ran out of coffee. That's because I made five pots of coffee when my friends were here for breakfast.



gengo said:


> that's why = that is the reason for
> that's because = that is the result of


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## lordwings

I know this thread is a bit old, but I am not native Spanish nor English speaker and I'm trying to figure it out what is the correct usage of these phrases and does my understanding on them match to the proper usage in English. 

This is the example I am wondering about:

I cancelled my flight ticket. 

1st - That's why I can't fly until the next flight.
2nd - That's because I was to ill for a long flight.

Is it correct to say: 

That's because I can't come this evening.

Or is it wrong? Does it mean "I can't come because I cancelled the ticket" or does it mean "I can't get the plane because I am unable, so I cancelled the ticket"?


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## gengo

lordwings said:


> I cancelled my flight ticket.
> 
> 1st - That's why I can't fly until the next flight.
> 2nd - That's because I was too ill for a long flight.



Those are correct usage of these two words.



> Is it correct to say:
> 
> That's because I can't come this evening.



No, that would not be correct after "I cancelled my flight ticket."  "That's why" would be correct.



I cancelled my flight.  That's why I can't fly until the next flight.
Suspendí mi vuelo.  Por eso no puedo volar hasta el próximo vuelo.
I cancelled my flight.  That's because I was too ill for a long flight.
Suspendí mi vuelo.  Es porque estaba muy enfermo para un vuelo largo.


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## aztlaniano

lordwings said:


> I cancelled my flight ticket.
> 
> Is it correct to say:
> 
> That's because I can't come this evening.
> 
> Or is it wrong? Does it mean "I can't come because I cancelled the ticket" or does it mean "I can't get the plane because I am unable, so I cancelled the ticket"?


It could conceivably mean the latter.
Eg. I had a ticket to New York where I planned to attend the opera tonight with friends who are also flying to New York. Something unforeseen has forced me to giving up going to the opera tonight, so I have cancelled the airline ticket to New York.
I could tell the friends who are expecting to go to the opera tonight: "I cancelled my ticket to New York. That's because I can't come (with you to the opera) this evening."


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## gengo

aztlaniano said:


> It could conceivably mean the latter.



Indeed.  My hat is off to you for coming up with a situation that fit!  

I had never realized that non-native English speakers would have trouble with "that's why/because," but it now seems obvious that they do.


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## lordwings

gengo said:


> I had never realized that non-native English speakers would have trouble with "that's why/because," but it now seems obvious that they do.



I think the confusion comes out because in this cases english tends to use "why" and "because" in very similar way and the non-native english speaker expects more concrete distinction as is in his/her native tongue.  Actually, english uses "why" in answering as well as in questioning which first answers a not said question (You would ask why it happens? That is because...) by simply saying "That's why". English seems to use "because" in two distinguishable ways - 1. Answering to the question why; 2. As explanation of what a thing causes; The second usage somewhat interferes the understanding in cases like "that's because/that's why" 
My native language (Bulgarian) uses two different words/constructions for these cases.   

Notice the spanish translation you provided:

"Por eso" - rather "_because of that_" than "_that is why_"
"Es porque" - "That is because"


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## k-in-sc

(*E*nglish, *S*panish - languages are always capitalized)
(answering to the question ... interferes *with* the understanding)

"Por eso" literally means "because of that." *That's why* gengo translated it that way. 

I can't see Spanish speakers having any trouble with this, since it's exactly the same in both languages.


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## gengo

k-in-sc said:


> "Por eso" literally means "because of that." (...)
> 
> I can't see Spanish speakers having any trouble with this, since it's exactly the same in both languages.



But you have illustrated the difficulty yourself.  If por eso means because of that, a non-native could logically conclude that "that's because" would be correct, when in fact it is not.


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## k-in-sc

They still seem opposite to me, as is reflected in the word order.
He's mad at me (B). That's because I can't go to the party (A). A is the cause of B
He's mad at me (B). That's why I can't go to the party (A). B is the cause of A


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## gengo

k-in-sc said:


> They still seem opposite to me, as is reflected in the word order.
> He's mad at me (B). That's because I can't go to the party (A). A is the cause of B
> He's mad at me (B). That's why I can't go to the party (A). B is the cause of A



Sure.  It's easy-peasy for you and me, but I can see how a non-native could get confused by this.


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## lordwings

gengo said:


> Sure.  It's easy-peasy for you and me, but I can see how a non-native could get confused by this.



It is easy enough and that is the expected behaviour of _because_. The confusion is about should I look for the _expected behaviour_ or the _odd behaviour_ (odd to me, as I am not trained to use _because_ that way) like the "_because of" _construction.


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