📖LearnModule 8 · Lesson 1 of 30Independent User · CEFR B2, first halfUnit 1 · Causa, consecuencia, finalidad
Porque, ya que, como, puesto que
Module 8 of the free Spanish course (CEFR B2, first half), lesson 1 of 30: Welcome to B2. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
porque
because
POHR-keh
ya que
since (as you know)
yah KEH
como
as (at the start)
KOH-moh
puesto que
since (for the reason that)
PWEHS-toh keh
la causa
the cause
lah KOW-sah
¿por qué?
why?
pohr KEH
evidente
obvious
eh-bee-DEHN-teh
la oración
the clause (sentence)
lah oh-rah-SYOHN
yo creo que es evidente
I think it is obvious
yoh KREH-oh keh ehs eh-bee-DEHN-teh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Welcome to B2. Four words mean because in Spanish and they are not interchangeable. Porque answers a question and sits in the middle of a sentence. Ya que and puesto que mean since, as in "as you already know", and open a sentence as easily as they join one.
Y también · And also
Como means as, and it likes the FRONT of the sentence: como llovía, nos quedamos en casa. Put como in the middle and it stops meaning because. Pick by position and by how obvious the reason already is: porque for a new reason, ya que for a shared one.
Ojo · Watch out
como means because only at the START of a sentence: como llovía, nos quedamos. In the middle it means as or like. And porque (one word) is because; por qué (two words, accent) is why.
creer, presente — the table
yo creo · tú crees · él/ella/usted cree · nosotros creemos · ustedes creen · ellos/ellas creen
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with porque.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out creer, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.