What does parce que explain? Check the scope of a French reason
Separate an event’s cause, evidence for a belief and a reason for speaking. Compare French rewrites and test which claim each reason explains.
In short
Ask what the reason explains: an event, your belief about it, or your decision to mention it. Then place the reason beside that target; if two actions compete, separate them into two sentences.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learnRed watch out
What does parce que explain in a French sentence?
| French sentence | What the reason explains |
|---|---|
| La réunion a été reportée parce que le rapport était incomplet. | The postponement: an event caused by the incomplete report. |
| La réunion a sans doute été reportée, puisque personne ne se connecte. | The speaker’s inference: nobody joining is evidence. |
| Je te précise la nouvelle date parce que tu me l’as demandée. | The act of telling: the listener asked for that information. |
In the second row, people staying offline gives the speaker a reason to think the meeting has been postponed. It need not be what caused the postponement. Keep sans doute when you paraphrase: the speaker presents a probable explanation.
Je pense que la réunion a été reportée : personne ne se connecte.
I think the meeting has been postponed: nobody is joining.
The first clause names the inference directly.
In the third row, the request explains why the speaker gives the date. It does not explain why the organisers chose that date. To ask that other question, say Pourquoi la réunion a-t-elle été fixée à cette date ?
Two actions can compete for one reason
Nora a appelé Samir et reporté la réunion parce que le rapport était incomplet.
Nora called Samir and postponed the meeting because the report was incomplete.
The final reason can explain the postponement or the pair of actions. The sentence leaves the reader to connect it. Decide whether you mean one shared reason or two separate relationships, then choose the matching version below.
| You mean… | Write… |
|---|---|
| The incomplete report explains both actions. | Parce que le rapport était incomplet, Nora a appelé Samir et reporté la réunion. |
| The incomplete report caused the postponement; the call informed Samir. | Nora a reporté la réunion parce que le rapport était incomplet. Elle a appelé Samir pour l’en informer. |
The second version names a purpose with pour l’en informer. Use that version when informing Samir is the purpose you intend. The first version keeps a single reason over both actions. Changing the punctuation alone is less helpful than stating the relationship.
Keep the direction of the link
Le rapport est incomplet ; c’est pourquoi la réunion est reportée.
The report is incomplete; that is why the meeting is postponed.
La réunion est reportée. En effet, le rapport est incomplet.
The meeting is postponed. Indeed, the report is incomplete.
Both connect the same facts. C’est pourquoi moves from reason to result; en effet supplies an explanation for the statement just made. Read the pair in that direction before shortening it.