“Because of” and “Thanks to” in Italian
These two English expressions are used to indicate a causality relation between two events. On the one hand, “because of” conveys a negative connotation, while “thanks to” conveys a positive one.
In Italian, we have two exact counterpart that are used in the same way: grazie a with a positive connotation, indicating a positive positive, and per colpa di with a negative connotation, used to blame someone or something for a certain result.
How to use
Grazie a
As I already mentioned, grazie a is literally translated as “thanks to”. It is used when we’re thankful for something or someone because they caused something positive.
As usual, when the preposition a is followed by a definite article, it must transform into preposizione articolata, therefore resulting in:
| Preposizione “a” | il | lo | la | l’ | i | gli | le |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a + article | al | allo | alla | all’ | ai | agli | alle |
Grazie a Laura, ho trovato un lavoro.
Thanks to Laura, I found a job.
Sto meglio, grazie ai miei amici.
I feel better, thanks to my friends.
Grazie a questa opportunità, ho imparato tantissimo.
Thanks to this opportunity, I learned a lot.
Grazie allo sforzo di tutti, la situazione sta migliorando.
Thanks to everyone’s effort, the situation is getting better.
Per Colpa di
Although this expression can be translated in English as “because of“, the Italian per colpa di carries an additional negative meaning. We use it when we want to blame something or someone for something negative they caused.
In fact, the word colpa means “fault”, so this expressions has to be conceived as “for the fault of…”.
Just like I explained before, when the preposition di is followed by a definite article, it must transform into preposizione articolata, therefore resulting in:
| Preposizione “di” | il | lo | la | l’ | i | gli | le |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| di + article | del | dello | della | dell’ | dei | degli | delle |
Per colpa di mio fratello, non posso uscire.
Because of my brother, I cannot go out. (= Because of my brother’s fault, I cannot go out.)
Per colpa della scuola, non ho tempo di fare niente.
Because of school, I don’t have time to do anything. (= It’s the school’s fault that I don’t have time to do anything.)
Per colpa dei miei amici, non siamo andati al cinema.
Because of my friends, we didn’t go to the cinema. (= It was my friends’ fault that I didn’t go to the cinema.)
When we want to specify that it is specifically someone’s fault, in Italian we use a possessive adjective. However, in this case there is no need for the preposition di. We just add the possessive adjective right after .
Here are some examples:
Per colpa mia, i miei genitori hanno sgridato mia sorella.
Because of me, my parents told my sister off.
Per colpa tua, non vado in vacanza.
Because of you, I’m not going on holiday.
Per colpa sua, devo stare a casa.
Because of him/her, I have to stay home.
Per colpa loro, non posso uscire.
Because of them, I cannot go out.
