These two prepositions are bound to cause some confusion for learners of Russian. In this quick and concise post, we’ll learn to differentiate them.
| The preposition из-за, requiring the genitive, means because of with usually a negative meaning. |
With a noun:
| Из-за тебя я опоздал на работу. Because of you, I was late to work. |
With a clause:
| Из-за того, что он провёл всю ночь без сна, уснул на уроке. Because he spent the whole night without sleep, he fell asleep in class. |
| The preposition благодаря, requiring the dative, means thanks to, owing to with a positive meaning. It’s related to the verb благодарить [to thank]. |
With a noun:
| Благодаря этому празднику, у меня 4 [четыре] выходных дней. Thanks to this holiday, I have 4 four days off. |
With a clause:
| Благодаря тому, что он каждый день занимается спортом, он в отличной форме. Owing to the fact that he exercises every day, he’s in great shape. |
That is all for today’s post! 🙂 It was meant to be quick and easy.
| Last Edit: 01/24/2026. |
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