por qué

Cultural Note

Spanish has four forms that sound identical: 'por qué' (why — in questions), 'porque' (because — in answers), 'porqué' (the reason — a noun), and 'por que' (for which — relative). This is one of the trickiest spelling distinctions in Spanish. Answer a '¿por qué?' question with 'porque': '¿Por qué estudias español?' 'Porque me encanta.'