Prepositions: a case of cause and effect

Novice RFL teachers often wonder how to explain the semantic differences among causal prepositional constructions: благодаря (thanks to) + dative, из-за (because of) + genitive, от (from) + genitive, из (out of) + genitive, and за (for) + accusative. Is it necessary to study the full range of these constructions?

First of all, it should be emphasised that these constructions are certainly worth studying, as they frequently occur in both spoken and written registers. They are also important for the Vocabulary and Grammar subtest of TORFL-2 and TORFL-3.

However, the full range of these constructions and their semantic nuances is typically addressed at B2 level; at earlier stages, learners are generally not ready for them, as they face more immediate priorities – learning the case system, verbal aspect, mood, and so on.

Nevertheless, learners will inevitably encounter the most frequent constructions – namely, phrases with “благодаря” and “из-за”, and possibly also “от” with the genitive. If learners raise questions about the distinction between “из-за” and “благодаря” at A2 or B1 level, the teacher may provide an explanation. I do not support categorical restrictions in grammar instruction; the teacher should be guided by expediency.

If learners express interest in a particular question and it aligns with the lesson’s topic and communicative objectives, the teacher can provide an explanation appropriate to their proficiency level.

Secondly, let us analyse this topic and consider the communicative contexts in which these constructions are used. In most cases, they express cause and can be linked to topics such as “Character”, “Emotions” and, for example, “Biography”.

The construction “благодаря” + dative differs from “из-за” + genitive in that it typically expresses a cause leading to a positive or favourable outcome. The preposition “благодаря” is used with nouns in the dative case and also occurs in the complex construction “благодаря тому, что” (“thanks to the fact that”), followed by a subordinate clause:

Я поступил в университет благодаря родителям. (I got into university thanks to my parents.)

Я поступил в университет, благодаря тому что родители поддержали меня. (I got into university thanks to the fact that my parents supported me.)

The antonym of “благодаря тому, что” is “из-за того, что” (“because of the fact that”). The combination “из-за” + genitive expresses a cause that leads to negative or undesirable consequences.

Я не поступил в университет из-за болезни. (I didn't get into university because of illness.)

Я не поступил в университет из-за того, что долго болел. (I didn't get into university because of the fact that I was ill for a long time.)

These two constructions are typically introduced as a contrasting pair because their opposite evaluative meanings make them easier to remember. The teacher should provide plenty of practice to help learners distinguish between them. It is also advisable to create a mind map together with the learners showing common collocations involving “из-за” and “благодаря”. At the end of the lesson, learners can be given situational tasks requiring the use of these constructions – for instance, composing dialogues or short narratives. Naturally, it is advisable to highlight from the outset that one preposition takes the dative case, and the other takes the genitive.

The construction “от” + genitive is used when the cause is a person’s internal state that triggers an involuntary action. For example, “Девочка заплакала от испуга” (“The girl burst into tears out of fright”). This meaning is often confused with the primary meaning of “из” + genitive, which denotes a motive for a conscious, deliberate action. Thus, the first case involves an involuntary action, while the second involves a conscious one. For instance, “Я не стала его спрашивать о семье из вежливости” (“I didn't ask him about his family out of politeness”) – here the speaker performs (or rather, refrains from) an action for a clearly understood reason.

The construction “от” + genitive also has other meanings. It can indicate external conditions that cause a change in a person's physical state: “Он дрожал от холода” (“He was shivering from the cold”). It can also refer to external changes caused by natural phenomena: “Все листья опали от сильного дождя” (“All the leaves fell because of the heavy rain”).

It is also worth drawing learners' attention to the construction “с/со” + genitive, which is synonymous with “от” + genitive but is characteristic of colloquial and emotionally charged speech: “Он чуть не умер со страху, подумав, что увидел привидение” (“He almost died of fright, thinking he had seen a ghost”). However, this information is relevant only for learners at B2 level and above.

In addition, Russian has a common construction”по” + dative, which expresses the cause of an unintentional action by the subject. The cause is often a character trait, typically a negative one. Interestingly, the same preposition can also be used when an action is prompted by another person:

Я уронила вазу по неосторожности. (I dropped the vase through carelessness.)

По совету родителей Саша поступила на экономический факультет МГУ. (On her parents' advice, Sasha enrolled in the Faculty of Economics at Moscow State University.)

When “по” is introduced in its causal meaning, learners typically ask how to distinguish among “из-за” + genitive, “из” + genitive and “по” + dative.

If we compare “По невнимательности он забыл выключить кран” (“Through carelessness, he forgot to turn off the tap”) and “Из-за его невнимательности мы затопили соседей” (“Because of his carelessness, we flooded the neighbours”), we see that the first example involves only one subject, whereas the second involves two. Naturally, the use of the pronoun “его” (“his”) is therefore natural here. The construction “из” + genitive is used when the subject acts consciously and deliberately, whereas “по” + dative is used for unintentional actions.

The construction “за” + accusative expresses the reason for the action denoted by the verb. It occurs with verbs such as “уважать” (to respect), “любить” (to love), “ругать” (to scold), “ценить” (to value), “благодарить” (to thank), “сердиться” (to be angry) and “увольнять” (to dismiss), among others. With a subordinate clause, the construction employs the conjunction “за то, что” (for the fact that).

На работе его ценят за ответственность и трудолюбие. (At work, he is valued for his responsibility and diligence.)

На работе его ценят за то, что он ответственный и трудолюбивый. (He is valued at work for the fact that he is responsible and hardworking.)

As we can see, the material is extensive and contains numerous semantic and grammatical subtleties. That is why these prepositions are typically introduced in pairs to clarify their semantic differences, after which learners move on to exercises requiring them to distinguish among all the constructions. Particular attention should be paid to distinctions that commonly cause difficulty: “благодаря” versus “из-за”, “из” versus “от”, and “из-за” versus “из” versus “по”. Learners also need practice with three different cases: dative (with “благодаря” and “по”), genitive (with “из-за”, “из”, “от” and “с”), and accusative (with “за”).

After sufficient practice, learners can move on to more complex final tasks: composing dialogues based on situations provided by the teacher (linked to topics such as “Biography”, “Emotions” and “Character”), writing short narratives, and describing pictures –  for instance, using pictures from Wimmelbooks, and so on.

Finally, the books “Трудные случаи русской грамматики” (“Difficult Cases of Russian Grammar”), “A Living Russian Grammar” and “Чистая грамматика” (“Pure Grammar”) contain extensive practice on this topic.

Author: Yulia Amlinskaya, teacher of Russian as a Foreign Language and administrator of the “RFL Teachers” professional community.