weil
German
Etymology
From the accusative of Middle High German wīle, from Old High German wīla, from Proto-West Germanic *hwīlu, from Proto-Germanic *hwīlō.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vaɪ̯l/
Audio (file) Audio (file) Audio (file) Audio (Austria) (file) - Rhymes: -aɪ̯l
Conjunction
weil
- because, given that
- Ich kann nicht kommen, weil ich krank bin.
- I can't come because I'm sick.
Usage notes
- In formal writing, weil is always a subordinating conjunction, i.e. the following clause is a subordinate clause and has the respective word order (see example above). In the beginning of a sentence, weil is preferably replaced with da: Da ich krank bin, kann ich nicht kommen.
Further reading
- “weil” in Duden online
- “weil” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache