3 easiest ways to say Because in korean language

Today you will learn how to use the word because in Korean. Koreans put the word because in the middle of a sentence rather than at the front of a sentence like in English. This pattern is exactly the same as Japanese.

There are many ways to say Because in Korean (왜냐하면 -때문에 -덕분에 -느라고 -는 바람에 -(으)니까 -아서/어서 -이므로). First, let’s see an example and learn

이가는 비싸서 좋아.
The literal meanings of the word are (This is expensive because good) and the actual meaning of the sentence is this is good because it’s expensive.

비싸니까 좋아.
The literal meanings of the word are (expensive because good) and the actual meaning of the sentence is it’s good because it’s expensive.

Other examples are
싸니까 나빠 – It’s bad because it’s cheap.
머니까 나빠. It’s bad because it’s far.
이거를 추우니까 샀어. I bought them because it’s cold.

Now let’s learn in detail.
아서/어서/여서, -(으)니까, –기 때문에 are used to say because in Korean.

아서/어서/여서 (Because in korean)

This is fairly easy to conjugate it’s very similar to the way you conjugate 아요/어요/여요 except for the 요 you swap it out with the 서 so if the last syllable of the verb has the vowel 아 or 오 (a bright vowel) then you conjugate with 아서, for example,
많다 – 많아서
좋다 – 좋아서
If the last syllable of the verb has any other vowel, then you conjugate it with어서
멀다 – 멀어서
만들다 – 만들어서
If the verb is in a hada form then you conjugate it with 여서. 하(하다) + 여서 = 해서
지루하다 = 지루해서
궁금하다 = 궁금해서
여서 applies to both action verbs and descriptive verbs so verbs and adjectives both work. To use this grammar form in a sentence you need to have the cause before and then the latter half of the sentence is the result of that cause so let’s look at an example
일이 많아서 늦게 잤어요.
Because I had a lot of work is the reason and the result of that is I slept late. You just put the cause in the front and the result in the back. However, there are certain restrictions to using this grammar form. In a sentence, there are three things you need to remember. The first restriction for using 아서/어서/여서 also in a sentence is that it cannot be used in an imperative sentence and by that I mean you cannot use this grammar form to make an order a command or a request or even a suggestion anything that has to do with telling someone to do something that doesn’t work with this grammar form.

아서/어서/여서 you simply describe or explain something, the state of something that already is or was and
you’re giving the cause for that. So we’re going to look at another example
눈이 와서 옷을 많이 입었어요.
I wore a lot of clothes because it was snowing ( it was snowing and as a result of that I’m all bundled up)
what you cannot say is for example
눈이 와서 옷을 많이 입으세요. you can’t tell someone to dress warmly because it’s snowing, using this grammar form.
You cannot tell someone to do something or make a request using -아서/어서/여서. You can not use -아서/어서/여서 on any sentence endings like 할까요, 해주세요,하세요 etc these sentences all don’t work.

The second restriction for this grammar form is that you cannot conjugate it in the past tense. So the second half of the sentence (the result part) can be in either present or past tense both work but when you’re conjugating the -아서/어서/여서 that one doesn’t come directly after a past tense marker
눈이 와서 옷을 많이 입었어요 is a correct sentence but it cannot be 눈이 왔어서 옷을 많이 입었어요.

The third restriction is, it cannot come directly after 겠 this is another pre-final ending or a suffix that is used to refer to future events or like probable assumptions. So when you’re making an assumption about something that is or that might be in the future, this one also does not work. So just to wrap that up-아서/어서/여서 this grammar form
1cannot be used with imperative sentences.
2 it cannot be used after the past tense marker.
3 it cannot be used after the 겠 pre-final ending

let’s look at a couple more examples before we move on to the next grammar form.
돈이 없어서 여행을 못 해요. Because I have no money I can’t travel.
Next example
K 팝이 좋아서 한국어를 공부해요. So I study Korean because I like k-pop

-(으)니까 (Because in Korean)

This grammar form might look very similar to the one we just learned. In this grammar also the reason comes in the front
and then the result or the rest of the sentence comes in the latter part of the sentence but it is very different.

(으)니까 conjugation

If the verb (action or descriptive) ends in a consonant in other words if it has a 받침 (patchim) then you conjugate with
으니까 (unika) for example.
먹다 mokta becomes (Mokunika)먹으니까
입다 becomes (ibunika) 입으니까

If the verb does not have a 받침 (patchim) or if it ends in a vowel sound then you conjugate it with 니까 nica so
가다kata is 가니까 kanika
자다 chhada is 자니까 chhaanika

And if the verb ends in a ㄹ 받침 (patchim) then the ㄹ gets cut off and then you conjugate with 니까 nikka so
멀다 molda becomes 머니까 monika
살다 salda 사니까 sanikka

아서/어서/여서 vs -(으)니까

The biggest difference between 아서/어서/여서 and -(으)니까 is that this one -(으)니까 can be used for imperative sentences. For example-
비가 오니까 우산을 챙기세요. Because it’s raining, take an umbrella
시간이 없으니까 빨리 오세요. Because I have no time, come quickly.

Another difference between 아서/어서/여서 and -(으)니까 is that -(으)니까 can be conjugated in the past tense. For example
오늘 월급 받았으니까 제가 밥을 살게요. I’ll buy lunch or dinner or whatever because I got my paycheck today. (I’m offering to treat you to a meal)
월급 받았으니까 is in the past tense.

-(으)ㄹ테니까 vs -(으)니까

-(으)ㄹ테니까 also used to say because in Korean. Actually for future events or probable assumptions or things like that there’s actually a different grammar point -(으)ㄹ테니까. -(으)ㄹ테니까 sounds a lot more natural.
In this case, so 겠 doesn’t really get used in this context or in this grammar point with -(으)니까.

-기 때문에 (Because in Korean)

-기 때문에 (ki de mune) is actually quite easy to conjugate. All you need to do is take the verb stem so take the dictionary form, remove the 다 (ta) and just add 기 때문에.
먹다 = 먹기 때문에
보다 = 보기때문에
듣다 = 듣기때문에

The good thing about -기 때문에 grammar is that there are no irregular verbs rule and exceptions.
You cannot use this grammar also in an imperative sentence. So you can’t say
덥기 때문에 창문을 열어 주세요. Because it’s hot, please open the door.
you can say
더우니까 창문을 열어 주세요. Because it’s hot, please open the door.
덥기 때문에 창문을 열었어요. Because it’s hot, I opened the window.

Unlike 아서/어서/여서 this grammar form (-기 때문에) can be conjugated in the past tense so
더웠기 때문에 Because it’s warm

-기 때문에 cannot be conjugated with 겠. ….겠 기 때문에 is not grammatically correct

. 기 때문에 is a bit of a stronger expression when you’re really emphasizing the cause of something and this 기 때문에 sounds a bit more natural in a more formal context when you’re trying to explain the cause of something in a formal setting although works in both formal and casual um situation.

You might have noticed 기 때문에 a lot in song lyrics, dramas and a lot of phrases like 너 때문에 (neo temune) because of you when I’m trying to kind of emphasize the because of you.

느라고 grammar

느라고 is used as a connective ending and it is used when the activity of the previous assertion is the reason or reason for the accompanying assertion.
느라고 is used to give excuses or reasons.
시험공부를 하느라고 잠을 못 잤어요. I couldn’t sleep because I was studying for the exam.
그 아이는 친구들과 노느라고 학교 숙제도 안 하네요. The child is hanging out with his friends, and he doesn’t do his homework.