Porque vs Por qué vs Porqué vs Por que

Use porque (one word, no accent) to give a reason or cause; it introduces an explanation and can often be replaced by "since" or "because" in English. It appears in answers and in sentences that state why something happened.

Use por qué (two words, with an accent on qué) to ask about the cause, reason, or motive; it appears in direct and indirect questions when you want to know why something occurred. Think of it as "why" in interrogations.

Use porqué (one word with an accent) as a noun meaning "the reason" or "the cause"; it usually appears with a definite article like el porqué and can be replaced by "la razón" in Spanish. It functions like "the why" in English.

Use por que (two words, no accent) in more formal or grammatical contexts where por is followed by a relative pronoun or when it can be replaced by por el/la/los/las que; it sometimes appears in legal or written language and requires analyzing the sentence structure. It can also occur when que introduces a subordinate clause after a preposition.

Spanish distinguishes porque, por qué, porqué and por que by accent and spacing to mark different functions: reason (porque), question (por qué), noun (porqué) and grammatical link (por que). Paying attention to these small differences helps you ask clearly and give precise answers.