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We can introduce a subordinate clause that expresses the cause of the main sentence with different connectives in Spanish.
Learn about porque, ya que, puesto que in Spanish
The most common Spanish connectives to express a cause are "porque", "ya que" and "puesto que". All these are followed by the indicative.
Have a look at these examples:
Estoy haciendo horas extra porque necesito dinero para pagar mis deudas.I am doing extra hours because I need money to pay my debts.
It is incorrect to use the subjunctive:
Debes estudiar más porque/ya que/puesto que esa asignatura es/sea bastante difícil.
No porque
However, with porque, if the causal subordinate clause is negative, it allows both the indicative and the subjunctive (without changing the meaning):
Yo voy al gimnasio, no porque me guste, sino porque debo perder peso.I go to the gym, not because I like it, but because I must lose weight.
Yo voy al gimnasio, no porque me gusta, sino porque debo perder peso.I go to the gym, not because I like it, but because I must lose weight.
Notice that when we introduce a clause with "no porque" we often see "sino porque..." (but because...) afterwards to introduce the real cause. However this is not always necessary as the whole sentence could be split in two, for example:
Yo voy al gimnasio, no porque me gusta, sino porque debo perder peso.
or
Yo voy al gimnasio, no porque me gusta. Yo voy porque debo perder peso.
Ya que/Puesto que
This doesn't happen with other causal connectives like "ya que" or "puesto que". These are always followed by the indicative and do not allow a "no" in front either.
This is incorrect:
- Yo me casé contigo ya que fueras rica sino porque eras adorable.
- Pospusimos la reunión no puesto que el jefe quiso, sino porque el cliente llegó tarde.
Here are some correct examples with ya que and puesto que, followed by the indicative:
No pudimos ver la película ya que tuvimos una visita inesperada esa tarde.We couldn't watch the film because we had an unexpected visit that evening.
Nos cancelaron el vuelo puesto que esperaban tormentas y mucho viento.They cancelled our flight because they were expecting storms and a lot of wind.
Note that ya que and puesto que are more formal than porque, which is more commonly used in colloquial Spanish.
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