In Indonesian, “karena” and “soalnya” both express reasons, but they are not interchangeable in every situation.
They have different functions, positions, and levels of formality.

1. KARENA (conjunction)

Meaning: “because”

“Karena” introduces a reason after the main clause or before it.
It works just like “because” in English.

Formality: Neutral–formal

Commonly used in writing and formal contexts.

Position in a sentence:

• Before the reason
• Can appear at the beginning or in the middle

Examples:

• Saya terlambat karena macet.
  (I was late because of traffic.)
• Karena hujan, kami tidak jadi pergi.
  (Because it rained, we didn’t go.)

2. SOALNYA (informal connector)

Meaning: “because” / “the thing is…”

“Soalnya” also gives a reason, but it is very casual and used mostly in spoken Indonesian.

It feels softer and more conversational, similar to:

• “because, you know…”
• “the thing is…”
• “it’s because…”

Formality: Informal

Not recommended for formal writing.

Position in a sentence:

• Usually at the beginning of the reason clause
• Often comes after the main clause

Examples:

• Aku telat, soalnya aku ketiduran.
  (I’m late because I overslept.)
• Nggak bisa ikut. Soalnya ada kerjaan.
  (I can’t join. The thing is, I have work.)

3. Easy Summary Table

Word	Meaning	Register	Function	Position
karena	because	neutral–formal	conjunction	beginning or middle
soalnya	because / the thing is	casual	informal explanation	usually after the main clause

4. Example Sentence Pairs

1. Formal/neutral:
   Saya nggak ikut meeting karena sakit.
   (I didn’t join the meeting because I was sick.)Casual:
   Aku nggak ikut meeting, soalnya aku sakit.
   (I didn’t join the meeting, the thing is, I’m sick.)
2. Formal/neutral:
   Karena cuaca buruk, pesawatnya delay.
   (Because of bad weather, the flight was delayed.)Casual:
   Pesawatnya delay, soalnya cuacanya buruk.
   (The flight was delayed, because the weather was bad.)

10 Practice Questions (Karena vs Soalnya)

Choose the correct word: karena or soalnya.

1. Aku nggak jadi keluar, ______ hujan deres.
2. Dia terlambat, ______ dia bangun kesiangan.
3. ______ macet panjang, aku datang jam 10.
4. Aku nggak lapar, ______ tadi sudah makan.
5. Kami batal jalan-jalan, ______ cuacanya jelek.
6. Aku takut naik pesawat, ______ pertama kali terbang.
7. ______ listrik mati, sekolah diliburkan.
8. Dia nggak bales chat, ______ lagi meeting.
9. Aku pulang cepat, ______ kepala aku pusing.
10. ______ harus kerja, dia nggak bisa ikut nonton film.