Adverb clauses of cause or reason

Adverb clauses of cause or reason

Adverb clauses of cause or reason are introduced by the subordinating conjunctions because, as, since and that.

• I sing because I like singing.
• He thinks he can get anything because he is rich.
• Since he has apologized we will take no further action against him.
• As he was not there I left a message with his mother.
• I am glad that you have come.
• My parents were disappointed that I didn’t get the scholarship.
• He was furious that his book was panned by most reviewers.

Notes

The conjunction that is often omitted.

• I am glad you like it. OR I am glad that you like it.
• They were disappointed you weren’t in. OR They were disappointed that you weren’t in.

As and since are used when the reason is already known to the listener.

• As it is raining again we will have to cancel the match.

As and since-clauses are relatively formal. In an informal style, the same idea can be expressed with so.

• It is raining again, so we will have to cancel the match.

Because-clauses are used to give information which isn’t already known to the reader or listener.

• Because he had not paid the bill, his electricity was cut off.

Note that a because-clause can stand alone. As and since-clausescannot be used like this.

• ‘Why are you looking at her like that?’ ‘Because she smiled at me.’ (NOT As she smiled at me.) (NOT Since she smiled at me.)

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