Hi Matthew! I hope you are well. Let me explain: "Pues" is used as a "because" in the most of times (Although it can be used in other ways, the one I will explain is the most common). For Example, I can say: "The car stopped pues I had no gasoline" AND I can say: "The car stopped porque I had no gasoline". Feliz día!

Also in some parts of Mexico it's a word that we use it always at the end of a sentence. For example "haz esto pues" "do this" it's just a friendly way to express ourselves. "Si pues" "yeah"

Hahahaha, is a really good question, the Word "Pues" have a Lot of meanings and uses, un fact to cover all content You need a serie of classes. It's a particle that serves in the sentence as the note of someone who resolves something or affirms what is happening or is going to happen. It is also used as a note of thread, and most times it is equivalent to "supposed that". It also serves as a note of assumption of some thing to continue or solve others, and is equivalent to, "since", or "supposed that". As You can imagine this is a long theme, The above are just three of the many meanings and uses that this word can have.

"Pues" is used to emphasize something, for example we could say: Claro pues, si pues, hazlo pues (of course, yeah, do it) but this have a strong connotation.