Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "therefore" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

поэтому

Meaning: therefore, so, thus, that's why

Pronunciation: [pah-EH-tuh-moo]

Part of speech: adverb

Rank: #300 (see frequency list)

It was rainy, so we didn't go to the forest.
Photo by eirikso CC-BY-SA-2.0

Example sentences:

Был дождь, поэ́тому мы не пое́хали в лес.
It was rainy, so we didn't go to the forest.
literal The rain was, so we didn't go to the forest.
Ты опозда́л и́з-за метро́? Да, поэ́тому.
Did you come late because of the metro? Yes, that's the reason.
literal Did you come late because of the metro? Yes, because of that.
Сего́дня ты получи́л дво́йку, поэ́тому не полу́чишь моро́женого.
You've got a bad mark today, so you won't receive ice-cream.
Ему́ не везëт в жи́зни, именно поэ́тому он тако́й злой.
He isn't lucky, and therefore he's so angry.
literal He doen't have luck in life, exactly for this reason he's so angry.
Ты поэ́тому тако́й серди́тый? Нет, не поэ́тому!
Are you so mad because of that? No, not because of that!
Был дождь и поэ́тому я взял такси́.
I took a taxi because it was raining.
literal It was raining and therefore I took taxi.
То́лько поэ́тому стои́т жить.
It's worth living only because of that.
literal Only therefore it's worth living.
Она́ зли́лась и поэ́тому молча́ла.
She was angry. That is why she remained silent.
literal She was angry and thus remained silent.
Был тёплый день, поэ́тому мы пошли́ пла́вать.
It was a warm day, so we went swimming.

Idioms and set expressions:

и́менно поэ́тому = just for that reason
literal just therefore
то́лько поэ́тому = only for that reason
literal only therefore

Related words:

по э́той причи́не = for that reason
сле́довательно = consequently

Vocabulary lesson: By Russificate blog exclusively for MasterRussian

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.

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