Difference between 때문에 and 덕분에

덕분에 and ~기 때문에 have similar meaning that is “because” or “because of”.
~기 때문에 is used when you wish to describe the reason of some action or event.

For Example –
비가 오기 때문에 우산을 가지고 왔어요.
I brought an umbrella because it’s raining.

요리가 잘 못하기 때문에 항상 식당에서 음식을 먹어요.
I always eat at restaurants because I’m not good at cooking.

학교는 집 근처에 있기 때문에 걸어 가요.
Since school is near my house, I walk there.

제가 미국에 간 이유는 영어를 배우고 싶기 때문이었어요.
The reason I went to the U.S. was that I wanted to learn English.

When used with nouns we just use 때문에 and 기 is not required.

For Example:

할머니의 생신 때문에 고향에 갔어요.
I went to my hometown because it was my grandmother’s birthday.

일 때문에 여행할 수 없어요.
I can’t go travelling because of work.

“덕분에” is also used to state reason but it always indicates positive effect of an action or state. It is roughly translated as “thanks to …”.

For Example –

장학금 덕분에 좋은 대학에 다녔어요.
I was able to attend a good university thanks to the scholarship.

낮은 생활비 덕분에 인도에서 돈을 많이 저축했어요.
Thanks to the low cost of living in India, I was able to save a lot of money.

한자를 공부한 덕분에 TOPIK 시험에 합격했어요.
I was able to pass the TOPIK exam thanks to studying Hanja.