af því að
Because (Af Því Að)
af því að means because: Ég er heima af því að ég er veikur. (I am home because I am sick.)
How It Works
Giving a reason. af því að joins a reason to the main sentence:
- Ég er heima af því að ég er veikur. (I am home because I am sick.)
- Hún lærir íslensku af því að hún býr á Íslandi. (She is learning Icelandic because she lives in Iceland.)
The three words belong together: af (of), því (that) and að (that). Learn them as one unit meaning because.
Word order inside the reason. The reason is a clause of its own with a subject and a verb. As in a main clause, the verb comes before ekki: af því að ég hef ekki tíma (because I don't have time). This is different from Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. See subordinate clause word order.
Reason first. The reason can also start the sentence. The whole reason clause then counts as the first part, so the verb of the main clause comes right after it: Af því að það var kalt, fórum við heim. (Because it was cold, we went home.) See verb-second word order.
Short answers. To answer Af hverju? you can start with Af því að .... Af því bara means just because. In writing and careful speech, því að or just því also mean because after a comma: Ég fór heim, því að ég var þreyttur. A more formal way to say because is vegna þess að.
Examples (6)
- Ég er heima af því að ég er veikur.
I am home because I am sick.
Word by Word: I am home of that that I am sick.
- Hún lærir íslensku af því að hún býr á Íslandi.
She is learning Icelandic because she lives in Iceland.
Word by Word: She learns Icelandic of that that she lives on Iceland.
- Ég kem ekki af því að ég hef ekki tíma.
I'm not coming because I don't have time.
Word by Word: I come not of that that I have not time.
In the reason clause, hef comes before ekki.
- Af því að það var kalt, fórum við heim.
Because it was cold, we went home.
Word by Word: Of that that it was cold, went we home.
The reason comes first, so the main verb fórum comes next, before við.
- Af hverju ertu glaður? – Af því að það er föstudagur!
Why are you happy? – Because it's Friday!
Word by Word: Of what are-you glad? – Of that that it is Friday!
- Af hverju? – Af því bara.
Why? – Just because.
Word by Word: Of what? – Of that just.
Common Mistakes
Putting ekki before the verb in the reason clause, as in Danish or Swedish.
Ég er heima af því að ég ekki er í vinnunni.Ég er heima af því að ég er ekki í vinnunni.Icelandic keeps the verb before ekki in clauses after af því að too: ég er ekki.
Keeping subject-first order in the main clause after a fronted reason.
Af því að það var kalt, við fórum heim.Af því að það var kalt, fórum við heim.The whole reason clause counts as the first part of the sentence, so the main verb must come next: fórum við.
How It Connects
Learn This First
af því að answers af hverju.
Related Patterns
- vegna þess aðBecause (Vegna Þess Að)
A more formal way to say because.
Level 3 - þess vegnaThat Is Why (Þess Vegna)
Gives the result instead of the reason: that is why.
Level 3 - Verb Before Negation in Subordinate Clauses: ekkiThe Verb Before Ekki in Subordinate Clauses
Explains why the verb comes before ekki in the reason clause.
Level 2 - The Verb Comes Second
Explains the word order when the reason comes first.
Level 1
Words in This Pattern
Practice af því að in Bubblegum
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