Difference Between ТОМУ and ТОМУ ЩО in Ukrainian

Ukrainian conjunctions are tricky: take the difference between тому and тому що, for instance. Only one syllable might change your perfect sentence into nonsense. Fortunately, we can help you out!

Basic translation

For starters, you can just translate these words. Тому is so or that’s why:

• Я хочу знати мову моїх предків, тому вивчаю українську.
  I want to know the language of my ancestors, so I am learning Ukrainian.

  

Тому що is translated as because:

• Я хочу жити в Києві, тому що люблю великі міста.
  I want to live in Kyiv because I love big cities.

Difference between тому and тому що: grammar

I love language rules: they make everything clear. There is one grammar rule that helps you get the difference between тому and тому що. Use тому in the main clause to show the result of an action and тому що to express a cause:

• Іван хоче схуднути, тому їсть тільки гречку і капусту.
  Ivan wants to lose weight, so he is eating only buckwheat and cabbage.
• Марія — найкраща учениця в класі, тому що вона багато вчиться.
  Maria is the best student in her class because she studies a lot.

As there are both reasons and results in our sentences, we can use either тому or тому що to express the same idea:

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Difference between тому and тому що: commas

Fortunately, there is no difference between тому and тому що when it comes to punctuation. Both of them require a comma in front:

• Моя начальниця проспала, тому вирішила не йти в офіс.
  My boss overslept, so she decided not to go to the office.
• Він з’їв дві тарілки борщу, тому що був голодний.
  Не ate two bowls of borscht because he was hungry.

Тому and тому що: watch out

One common mistake is to use both conjunctions in one sentence. It sounds unnatural, so pick one:Тому що ми дуже любимо морозиво, тому їмо його щодня.

• Ми дуже любимо морозиво, тому їмо його щодня.
  We love ice cream very much, that’s why we eat it every day.

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I hope now the difference between тому and тому що is clear. Can you tell us why you are learning Ukrainian? Remember to use тому or тому що in your sentence. Looking forward to your comments!

Sentences that consist of two or more parts are called in Ukrainian складні речення (“difficult” or complex sentences in Ukrainian). Learn more about Compound and complex sentences in Ukrainian

Learning Ukrainian and looking for great resources? Check out the 1000 most common words in Ukrainian with interactive flashcards.