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Grâce à vs. à cause de — thanks to, due to

Grâce à vs. à cause de — thanks to, due to

Today’s lesson explains the difference between the expressions grâce à and à cause de. Both expressions can translate to “because of” or “due to”.

Grâce à, à cause de
Because of (thanks to, due to)

Grâce à vs. à cause de

Example sentences

There is a clear difference between grâce à and à cause de. The French use grâce à to express positive attribution (thanks to; with the help of) and à cause de to express negative attribution (due to the fault of).

Grâce à

Martin a réussi son examen grâce à un bon prof.
Martin passed his exam thanks to a good teacher.

Grâce à Dieu on a assez de nourriture.
Thank God we have enough food.

À cause de

L’équipe a perdu le match à cause de l’arbitre injuste.
The team lost the game due to an unfair referee.

Je reste chez moi à cause de la pluie.
I’m staying home becuase of the rain.

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David Issokson Founder & French Teacher at FrenchLearner.com
David Issokson is the founder of FrenchLearner.com, where he’s been helping students master French through vocabulary, grammar, and cultural lessons since 2012.

    David Issokson

    About the Author – David Issokson David Issokson is an online French teacher and the founder of FrenchLearner.com (established 2012). He has been teaching French online since 2014 and brings over 30 years of experience as a passionate French learner and fluent speaker. David creates clear, structured lessons supported by native audio recorded by Marie Assel Cambier, a professional voice artist and native French speaker. A graduate of McGill University in Montreal, he has taught hundreds of learners worldwide and publishes daily French lessons for more than 13,000 email subscribers. 📘 About David » 🌐 David’s personal site » 👍 Follow on Facebook »

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