por qué or porque?

Question

So i was talking to a girl that i work with, she is Hispanic. My question being is the word Why? por qué, or is it one word porque. We went through 4 people that were Hispanic in the store, and three said it was una palabra, and one said it was dos palabras. I just finished an Español class not but 2 months ago, and i was trying to explain to them that porque equals because, and por qué, being two words, means why, and they were still saying it was one word, Did i miss something. Example: Why are you eating so late? Did i miss something in Spanish class, or are they just simply wrong?

Answer 1

There are about 4 thing that sound simmilar and tend to be mixed by spanish-speaking people.

1st - Por qué: this is used to ask questions

_ Why didn't you come? - ¿Por qué no viniste?

2nd - Porque: to answer them

_ Because I was busy - Porque estaba ocupado

3rd - Porqué: the reason, as Jeremías said ^^

_ The reason for my action - El porqué de mis acciones

4th - Por que: in this case por and que tend to respond to different need of the sentence

_ I prayed for you to stay here - Recé por que te quedaras aquí (por is there because you need it to intruduce the reason why you prayed and que is necessary to introduce the second part for the sentence, to introduce the verb)

That's exactly what i thought. Thank you! I am not sure why they thought it was one word. - lewiex, Sep 2, 2010

Well... natives learn first the sound and then the writing, so I guess that if you hear the 4 "porque" as they were the same thing, you wirite them as the one you prefer... - LoaEtayo, Sep 2, 2010

In addition, many people make this mistake, so if you's like to look Hispanic, just make it hahaha - LoaEtayo, Sep 2, 2010

geat - 00494d19, Sep 2, 2010

Well done! I have tried to answer this question many times. I think is about time we put a direct link to this. - lazarus1907, Sep 2, 2010

Answer 2

You remember it well, and your summary about porque v por qué is correct. You can also use porque as a noun - ¿Por qué estas tarde? El porque es mi coche no arrancó.

J

Do you mean to say El porqué de, the reason? - lewiex, Sep 2, 2010

"El porque es mi coche no arrancó" wouldn't be completely correct, you should say "El porqué es QUE mi coche no arracó" - LoaEtayo, Sep 2, 2010

Answer 3

my spanish teacher said that porqué and por qué are only one word but two different definition like: if i said por qué no mi amigo? that is why aren't you my friend. but if i said: mi amigo no organizado porqué son perezoso... that is my friend is not organized because they are lazy..

one means why? the other one means because..