Meaning

3 senses

  1. (transitive)To set off an event or action; to bring about; to produce.

    The lightning caused thunder.

    verursachen, auslösen

    причиня́тьpričinjátʹ, производи́тьproizvodítʹ, заставля́тьzastavljátʹ

    спричиня́тиspryčynjáty, спричи́нюватиspryčýnjuvaty, спричини́тиspryčynýty

  2. (ditransitive)To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority.

    His dogged determination caused the fundraising to be successful.

    lassen

  3. (obsolete)To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.

    give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally

Examples

2469 sentences

  1. I don't know what caused it.

    Я не знаю що спричинило це. — Oktu

    ruЯ не знаю, чем это вызвано. — marafon

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. What was the cause of the explosion?

    Що було причиною вибуху? — deniko

    ruЧто было причиной взрыва? — corvard

    deWas war der Grund für die Explosion? — MUIRIEL

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. The cause of the fire was unknown.

    Причина пожежі була невідома. — aandrusiak

    ruПричина пожара была неизвестной. — FeuDRenais

    deDie Ursache des Brandes war unbekannt. — al_ex_an_der

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Do you know what caused the problem?

    Ти знаєш, що спричинило цю проблему? — deniko

    ruТы знаешь, что вызвало эту проблему? — astyng

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. Do you know what's causing the problem?

    Ти знаєш, що є причиною проблеми? — deniko

    ruВы знаете, из-за чего эта проблема? — soweli_Elepanto

    deWeißt du, wovon das Problem verursacht wird? — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
to set off an event or action:
Русский
By meaning 1
to set off an event or action:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
to set off an event or action:
to produce as a result:

Origin

* From Middle English cause (also with the sense of “a thing”), borrowed from Old French c

* From Middle English cause (also with the sense of “a thing”), borrowed from Old French cause (“a cause, a thing”), borrowed from Latin causa (“reason, sake, cause”), from Proto-Italic *kaussā, which is of unknown origin. Doublet of chose (“(law) a thing; personal property”). See accuse, excuse, recuse, ruse. Displaced native Old English intinga.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

causes, causing, caused, caused
Base formcause · to cause
3rd person singularcauses
Present participlecausing
Past simplecaused
Past participlecaused

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theycause
he, she, itcauses

Past simpleLesson

all personscaused

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave caused
he, she, ithas caused

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill cause

Synonyms

6 synonyms
Close in meaning

Word family

7 related words
Relatedcausativecausation
Deriveduncausecausablecauseecausercausingness

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

Collocations

12 patterns
  • caused the problem
  • the cause of
  • what caused the
  • caused the accident
  • cause of the
  • one who caused
  • know what caused
  • cause problems
  • who caused the
  • cause of death
  • want to cause
  • investigating the cause

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
causalitycausationcausativecausticcauterizecautionB1

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

cause — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto