"因为堵车，所以我们迟到了。"

Translation: Because of the traffic, we are late.

[JJennings42]

I feel like "Because of the traffic, we were late" should be accepted here

[Keith_APP]

Yes.

[DeeCahyadi]

We are late because of the traffic jam.

[sagitta145]

"We arrived late because of the traffic" should be accepted too I think.

[RichardWrigley]

"We were late because of traffic," seems pretty good to me.

[elfinkaren]

Due to traffic congestion,we are late.

[fourthwall1]

The English sentence sounds wrong. "We are late because of the traffic", "We are late because of the traffic jam" was marked wrong as well. Should it not be correct?

[Ann55075]

We are late because of the traffic - accepted now

[SovietPlayhouse]

Duolingo offered me the word "jams" in the word bank yet did not accept the sentence "Because of the traffic jams, we are late," despite "traffic jams" being provided as a definition for 堵车 . Surely, this should be accepted?

[George792719]

I think it should say "we arrived late" at the end since 到 really means arrive. That's what they have taught all the way along.

Putting and 'are' in is confusing since it is not an action verb, and there is no 'are' in the Chinese statement.

[Juliet730073]

There is a "了“ - it should accept we WERE late, or we ARRIVED late

[RobertGoug6]

Duo, please read
I get that you CAN start a sentence with 'because' it just feels awkward. I would rather say 'we were late because of traffic.' I am a native speaker of English, but no master. I think a 'because/so' kind of sentence would have you choose one or the other as in 'there was traffic, so we were late' or 'we were late because there was traffic.' Again, it feels strange here.

[ErickLinn]

Because of the traffic JAM, we are late.

[Languagecr10]

How can you distinguish between
知道了(zhīdàole) and 迟到了(chídàole)?
I tried on google tranlate and the sound quite the same

[Melody423394]

from what I remember from a youtube video or two,
zh : j as in judge
ch : ch as in chip

just found this
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/pronunciation/The_%22ch%22_%22sh%22_and_%22zh%22_sounds

[youarethebomb.ca]

Because there was traffic

[minpili]

traffic jam - better than simply traffic, as traffic can be light or heavy. It does not necessarily impede travel

[iamnezha]

"We are late due to traffic" is very natural

[Dengxiaoha]

there is no need for "the" before "traffic"

[unhappyboy]

Why do you have 所以, if not going to use it?
Because of traffic "jams 堵车,"so we are late.

[CinnamonTe1]

因为...所以 is the Chinese way to describe cause and effect. In English, it is unnatural to use both "because" and "so" in a single sentence. You have to choose one or the other when translating into English.

"We were late because of the traffic."
"There was traffic so we were late."

[Trulyjane]

Do we need 所以?

[NathanRasm]

In conversation, no. In formal language, yes.

[AlfredSoli3]

Because of the traffic jam so we arrived late was marked wrong. It's clunky but it is cirrect

[NathanRasm]

因为 sounds like ying wei in the new male voice.

[SarahDeLaF]

了doesn't say to you that the arrival was past tense? And when translating 因为 + 所以，does it not call for an English antecedent to "because"?