God save the Queen May she defend our laws And ever give us cause To sing with heart and voice God save the Queen. What does it mean here 'cause'? An Italian translation says "occasione", meaning 'c

Giulio

Community Tutor

God save the Queen May she defend our laws And ever give us cause To sing with heart and voice God save the Queen. What does it mean here 'cause'? An Italian translation says "occasione", meaning 'chance', 'opportunity'. Is it correct? The Queen in the Cathedral: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3dR7u7TPNo The Queen with people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGDujdUQNVg

Dec 8, 2016 4:50 PM

Answers · 6

It means 'reason'. It's the second (level C2) meaning here, 'Give someone cause to' + infinitive: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cause

December 8, 2016

As said, it means "reason". So the idea is something like "God, make the queen always ("ever") 'defend our laws' and behave in a respectable way so that we will always have good reasons ("cause") to sing "God, Save the Queen" ". C2 level is the most advanced level on the CEFR language difficulty rankings.

December 8, 2016

Still haven’t found your answers?

Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!