As, because or since?

As, because and since are conjunctions. As, because and since all introduce subordinate clauses.
They connect the result of something with its reason.

result reason
He decided to go to the conference in Barcelona, as he was in Spain anyway.
Are you angry with me because I opened the letter?
Bilardo coaches his team by telephone,
since half of them play in Italy, France or
(Bilardo was the coach of the Argentinian football
Spain.
team)

Because

Because is more common than as and since, both in writing and speaking. When we use because,
we are focusing on the reason:

She spoke quietly because she didn’t want Catherine to hear.

We’ll come over on Sunday because David’s got to work on Saturday.

We often put the because-clause at the beginning of a sentence, especially when we want to give
extra focus to the reason. We use a comma after the because-clause:

Because breathing is something we do automatically, we rarely think about it.

We can use a because-clause on its own without the main clause in speaking or informal writing:

A:

Would you like to go to school there?

B:

Yes.

A:

Why?

B:

Because my best friend goes there. (I would like to go to school there because my best friend
goes there.)
As, since ,…Conditionals Page 1 of 11
Warning:

We don’t use a because-clause on its own in formal writing:

In 1998, the government introduced a new import tax because people were importing cars from
abroad.

Not: … a new import tax. Because people were importing cars from abroad.

Cos

We often shorten because to cos /kəz/ or /kɒz/ in informal speaking and writing:

I’m laughing cos I’m so happy.

See also:

 Because, because of and cos, cos of

As and since

We often use as and since when we want to focus more on the result than the reason. As and
since are more formal than because. We usually put a comma before since after the main clause:

[result]I hope they’ve decided to come as [reason]I wanted to hear about their India trip.

[result]They’re rather expensive, since [reason]they’re quite hard to find.

We often use as and since clauses at the beginning of the sentence. We use a comma after the as-
or since- clause:

Since everything can be done from home with computers and telephones, there’s no need to dress
up for work any more.

As everyone already knows each other, there’s no need for introductions. We’ll get straight into
the business of the meeting.

We use because, not as or since, in questions where the speaker proposes a reason:

Are you feeling unwell because you ate too much?

Not: Are you feeling unwell since you ate too much? or … as you ate too much?

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/as-because-or-since

As, since ,…Conditionals Page 2 of 11

Since, for, from

Since expresses duration up to the present.

When we use since, we are saying that something began in the past, but is unfinished.

I have lived in this house since 1997.

(= 'I moved here in 1997 and I still live here.')

We’ve been married since last June.

(= 'We got married last June and we’re still married.')

I've known him since we were at school.

(= 'I knew him at school and I still know him.')
We use the present perfect simple or present perfect continuous with since.

I have had this car since last April.

Mary has been working here since 2003.
We can use the past perfect tense with since to express duration from a point in the past.

It was 1974 and he had been living in London since 1964.

Since vs. for
Since and for both express duration up to a point in the present, but we use them differently.
We use since + the starting point of the activity.

We have lived in this house since we got married.

I've been waiting here since 9 o'clock.
We use for + a time period:

We have lived in this house for thirty years.

I've been waiting here for three hours.
Since vs. from
We use since and from to express duration. Both tell us the starting point of an activity.
Since expresses duration of an unfinished action, up to a point in the present.

I've been here since 8 o'clock this morning so I'm going home now.
I've been here from 8 o'clock this morning.
We use from in other cases:

I will be here from 8 o'clock tomorrow.

I will be here since 8 o'clock tomorrow.
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The shop is open from 9 a.m on Saturdays.
The shop is open since 9 a.m on Saturdays.
We say from . . . to or from . . . till / until.

He works from 8 to 5.
From the 1920s until his death, Picasso lived in France.

http://speakspeak.com/resources/english-grammar-rules/various-grammar-rules/since-for-from

Conjunctions
Conjunctions are linking words like and, or, but, then and because:

They knocked down all the houses and they built a car park.

Are there four or five people living in that house?

My shoes look great but are not very comfortable.

And, but, either … or, etc. (coordinating conjunctions)

Coordinating conjunctions connect items which are the same grammatical type, e.g. words,
phrases, clauses. The most common coordinating conjunctions are and, or, but.

One-word conjunctions

Connecting words

Which do you prefer? [word]Red or [word]blue?

Connecting phrases
[phrase] --The meal was very expensive

and

[phrase] ----not very nice.

Connecting clauses

[clause]----There are seats outside

As, since ,…Conditionals Page 4 of 11
but

[clause]-----some people don’t like sitting outdoors.

Connecting sentences

My grandmother’s name was Wall. But she became Jenkins when she got married to my
grandfather. (In very formal writing, we don’t normally start a sentence with but.)

Connecting prefixes

[prefix]Pro- and [prefix]anti-government supporters waited outside the parliament.

Two-word conjunctions

Some coordinating conjunctions have two parts: either … or …, neither … nor …, both … and
…:

You can drink chocolate milk either hot in the winter or cold in the summer.

Neither Lisa nor Helena had been to Italy before. (Lisa hadn’t been to Italy before and Helena
hadn’t been to Italy before.)

Both you and I know what really happened. (You know and I know what happened.)

Warning:

Apart from two-word conjunctions, we only use one conjunction to connect words or phrases:

Because my alarm didn’t go off, I was late for work.

Not: Because my alarm didn’t go off, so I was late for work.

After, although, as soon as, etc. (subordinating conjunctions)

Common subordinating conjunctions are: after, (al)though, as, before, if, since, that, until, when,
whereas, while, once, so, as soon as, provided that. When a clause follows these conjunctions, it
becomes a subordinate clause, which needs a main clause to make a complete sentence.

One-word conjunctions

[subordinate clause]After we had talked on the phone, [main clause]I wrote down what we had
decided.

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[main clause]Everyone enjoyed the fishing trip [subordinate clause]although no one caught any
fish!

[subordinate clause]Before we left at four o’clock, [main clause]we had something to eat.

When the subordinate clause comes before the main clause, we usually put a comma at the end
of the clause. When the main clause comes first, we don’t need to use a comma.

See also:

Although or though?
As
As … as
Before
If
Once
Since
So
That
Until
When
Whereas
While and whilst

Conjunctions with more than one word

Some subordinating conjunctions consist of more than one word: as long as, as soon as, except
that, in order that, so as to, provided that:

As long as the waves are high enough, we can go surfing.

Provided that he pays a fine, he will not have to go to jail. (formal)

Conjunctions that can be modified by adverbs

Some subordinating conjunctions may be modified by adverbs (underlined). For example just
when, ever since, only if, just as, simply because, right before:

The phone rang just when I’d gone to bed.

I have been afraid to swim in the sea ever since I was young.

Position of subordinating conjunctions

Words and phrases such as above all, anyway, as a result, as well, eventually, firstly, however,
overall, rather, then, therefore, though, on the contrary (linking adjuncts) can create similar
As, since ,…Conditionals Page 6 of 11
meanings to conjunctions (e.g. adding, cause and effect). These words are adverb phrases and
can come in any position which an adverb can occupy:

He left home late. (As a result) he (as a result) didn’t arrive until 8 pm (as a result).

We cannot do this with subordinating conjunctions, which must come at the beginning of the
clause. Subordinating conjunctions create a grammatical connection between two clauses,
making one dependent on the other.

Compare

These two sentences mean the same thing but they are connected
Subordinating conjunction so: differently:
He couldn’t get money from the So makes a subordinating link between the cause/reason (He couldn’t
bank so he couldn’t buy a house. get money from the bank) and the result (he couldn’t buy a house). This
is a grammatical link. The position of so cannot change.
Linking adjunct as a result:
As a result creates a link between two clauses based on meaning. We
He couldn’t get money from the
can move as a result (He couldn’t get money from the bank. He
bank. As a result he couldn’t buy
couldn’t buy a house as a result).
a house.

See also:

 Clauses and sentences

 Conditionals

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/conjunctions

Clauses: introduction

A clause is the basic unit of grammar. Typically a main clause is made up of a subject (s) (a noun
phrase) and a verb phrase (v). Sometimes the verb phrase is followed by other elements, e.g
objects (o), complements (c), adjuncts (ad). These other elements are sometimes essential to
complete the meaning of the clause:

[S]Sarah [V]smiled.

[S]Jo [V]doesn’t feel [C]well.

Not: Jo doesn’t feel. (well is essential because it completes the meaning of feel.)

[S]They [V]haven’t posted [O]all the invitations. (post is a transitive verb which needs an object,
all the invitations)

The underlined words are not essential to complete the clause:

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[S]I[V]’ll call [O]you [AD]later.

[S]All the girls [V]laughed [AD]loudly.

When we give a command, we don’t usually use a subject:

Be careful!

Jump!

When we do use the subject, it is to reinforce the instruction or to make clear exactly who the
speaker is talking to:

You be careful.

See also:

 Commands and instructions

 Verbs

 Subjects

 Objects

 Complements

 Adjuncts

 Clauses and sentences

Main (independent) clauses and subordinate (dependent) clauses

Main (or independent) clauses can form sentences on their own. They aren’t dependent on other
clauses. They are always finite (they must contain a verb which shows tense).

Subordinate (or dependent) clauses cannot form sentences on their own. They are dependent on
main clauses to form sentences. They can be finite or non-finite (the main clauses are in bold; the
subordinate clauses are underlined):

I didn’t go to work because I wasn’t feeling very well.

He studied violin and mathematics before taking a medical degree and doing postgraduate
work in biophysics at Harvard.

She had pretty hair and must have been nice-looking when she was young.

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If I tell him will he be angry?

See also:

 Clauses: finite and non-finite

Clauses: coordinated

We can combine clauses of the same grammatical type to form sentences using coordinating
conjunctions:

[main clause]I’ll take the train and [main clause]you can take the car.

I’ll give you a call [subordinate clause]if I’m going to be late or [subordinate clause]if I’m not
coming.

You can use the phone [non-finite clause]to receive calls but [non-finite clause]not to make
them.

We don’t create coordinated clauses with clauses of a different grammatical type. For example
we cannot coordinate a main clause and a subordinate clause:

Ten minutes passed and no one had come.

Not: Ten minutes passed and if no-one had come.

See also:

 Main (independent) clauses and subordinate (dependent) clauses

 Conjunctions

(“Clauses” from English Grammar Today © Cambridge University Press.)

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/clauses

Conditionals: imagined situations

Conditional sentences consider imagined or uncertain situations and the possible results of these
situations. The most common types of conditional sentences involve if:

[imagined situation]If I get the job in Milan, [result]I’ll be pretty happy.

[outcome]We’ll have the party in the garden [imagined situation]as long as it doesn’t rain. (or
… if it doesn’t rain. or … on condition that it doesn’t rain.)

As, since ,…Conditionals Page 9 of 11

See also:

 Conditionals: if
 Conditionals: other expressions (unless, should, as long as)

 If

Conditional sentences

Conditional sentences consist of a conditional clause and a main clause:

[conditional clause]If a lot of people come, [main clause]we’ll have to get extra chairs.

[conditional clause]Unless you book weeks in advance, [main clause]you won’t get a flight.

The verb in the conditional clause reflects the speaker’s point of view on whether the imagined
situation is likely or impossible:

If you win the next match, will you be in the semi-final? (present simple + will indicates the
speaker thinks winning the match is possible or likely)

If I won a million pounds, I would give this job up tomorrow! (past simple + would indicates the
speaker thinks winning a million pounds is not likely to happen)

If we had won the competition, we would have had a free trip to Moscow. (past perfect + would
have refers to an impossible condition – the event did not happen)

Order of clauses

Conditional clauses usually come before main clauses but they may also come after them:

If you see Dora, will you give her a message? (conditional clause first; a comma is normally
used in writing)

I’ll go to Bristol tomorrow if the weather is good. (conditional clause second; a comma is not
normally used in writing)

Verb forms in the conditional clause

The verb in the conditional clause may be in the simple form or the continuous form, depending
on the meaning:

If you owe money, you must pay it back immediately. (simple)

If you’re feeling hungry, we can go and get something to eat. (continuous)

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If he had time, he always called in to see us. (simple)

If they were working, we always tried not to disturb them. (continuous)

(“Conditionals” from English Grammar Today © Cambridge University Press.)

Types of sentence

There are four main types of clause or sentence.

(s = subject; v = verb; aux = auxiliary verb; x = objects, complements or adjuncts)

Declarative
[S] [V]I finished [X]the book last night.
(statements)
Interrogative
[AUX][S]Did you [V]study [X]Latin at school?
(questions)
Imperative
[V]Leave [X]it on the chair, thanks.
(orders, instructions)
Exclamative
What [S]a gorgeous dress [V]she’s wearing!
(expressing strong opinion or surprise)

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