When you are justifying opinions using the word 'because' could someone explain when you would use these two forms? :
Parce qu'il / Parce qu'elle
J'aime bien la musique parce qu'elle est amusante.
Parce que c'est
J'aime aller à la piscine parce que c'est près d'ici.
Si ces formules sont équivalentes dans leur globalité, on notera cependant une nuance :
If those formulas seem to be equivalent, there are in face slightly different in meaning:
J'aime aller à la/cette piscine parce qu'elle n'est pas loin d'ici.
J'aime cette musique parce qu'elle est entraînante.
On utilise cette forme-ci pour parler non pas de quelque chose en général mais d'une instance : une piscine en particulier, une musique en particulier...
With this formulation, we don't speak about something in general but about an instance: one particular swimming pool, one particular music style or song.
Ceci est légèrement différent :
This is slightly different:
J'aime aller à la piscine parce que c'est...
J'aime la musique parce que c'est...
On utilisera plutôt cette forme-là pour parler de façon plus générale : les piscines en général, la musique au sens large du terme.
We use this formulation to speak in a more general way: swimming pools in general, music in general.
Both sentences use parce que. You have to compare “parce qu'elle” in the first sentence to “parce que ce” in the second. The last e of parce que is elided only in the first because elle starts with a vowel but not ce.
Therefore, the only difference lies in the choice of the subject pronoun in the second clause of this sentence. Whether to use il/elle or ce has already been discussed on French Language. It is not linked to the use of parce que and it's particularly subtle in these examples. In the two examples you gave both elle and ce would do, but it is not always the case.
The meaning is the same as "because".
You are removing an "e" before a word starting with a vowel to "parce que" for the same reason you are adding a "n" to the indefinite article "a" in english : language fluency.
Here some examples :
Parce qu'il ment = Because he is lying
Parce que tu mens = Because you are lying
Those two sentences mean the same but have different subjects.
"Parce qu'" will be used with "il", "elle", "on", "ils" et "elles" while "Parce que" will be used with "je", "tu", "nous" et "vous".
Parce qu'un chat mange les souris = Because a cat eats mice
Parce que le chat mange les souris = Because the cat eats mice
Here, there is no difference in meaning, just pointing at a cat in particular (second case) or characterising all of them (first case).
For a simple reason actually. Both sentences use the same form, "parce que". But in french, when the next word starts with a vowel, the last 'e' of "parce que" is changed for an apostrophe.
Parce qu'il mange means in fact parce que il mange, but we use a contracted form.
