MULTIMEDIA-ENGLISH

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  Drag&Drop
How to express reason
Focus Grammar
Description Practise the different connectors to express reason in English and when to use each of them. Also, pay attention to punctuation.
Instructions Click on the words at the bottom and drag them into the empty boxes of the sentence to complete it.
 
Gapped text Items
______________________ I'm Australian, I speak perfect English Because of / That's why / Since
______________________ this chair is broken, we only have 4 chairs in good condition, we need one more. That's why / Because of / As
It's very cold. ______________________ I need a coat. Because / That's why / Since / 'Cause / As / Because of
She had problems ______________________ tobacco 'cause / because of / that's why
I live here ______________________ I like this city that's why / because of / 'cause
It's Sunday. ______________________ the shops are closed Because / Because of / As / That's why
It's expensive ______________________ it's good quality because of / because / that's why
Listen to this ______________________ it's very important that's why / because / because of
______________________ I speak no German, we had to communicate in English That's why / Because of / Since
It's closed ______________________ it's 6 o'clock that's why / because of / because
Don't go now ______________________ it's too late because of / that's why / 'cause
We came to live here ______________________ the sea that's why / because of / because
Listen well, ______________________ I'm not going to repeat it twice that's why / 'cause / because of
He sat on the floor ______________________ there were no chairs free since / that's why / because of
England is very green ______________________ the rain because of / that's why / because
She started to cry ______________________ you because of / that's why / 'cause
______________________ we are all here, let's start dinner now Because of / That's why / As
I can't buy it ______________________ it's too expensive for me that's why / 'cause / because of
She was late ______________________ the traffic because of / because / that's why
I was worried ______________________ Tally was late because / that's why / because of
I don't want to go ______________________ I'm too tired because of / that's why / because
I've been working all day. ______________________ I'm so tired. Since / As / Because / Because of / That's why
I'm from Australia. ______________________ I speak with a different accent. Since / That's why / Because of / Because
______________________ you don't like it, I'll have it That's why / Since / Because of
______________________ you know her, you can invite her to come As / That's why / Because of
______________________ it was raining, we decided to stay at home Since / That's why / Because of
______________________ you have finished, you can go home That's why / Because of / As
I'm going to bed ______________________ it's very late that's why / because of / 'cause
He was on holiday. ______________________ he was never at home That's why / Because of / 'Cause
______________________ we are only three people, we need more help to do it As / That's why / Because of
Total number of items: 30
This is an activity from Multimedia-English www.multimedia-english.com
 

BECAUSE (c)

      I was worried because Tally was late

In conversation we very often use the form 'CAUSE (also spelled: coz, cos or cuz, cus in American English)
      I left cause I was getting bored

BECAUSE  OF+ noun (p)

This is a preposition, so it is not followed by a clause with a verb, it is followed by a noun or noun phrase

      She was late because of the traffic
      I was tired because of all the hard work
 
AS / SINCE (c)

These conjunctions are formal. In a less formal language we prefer the equivalent with SO:

     As it's raining again, we'll have to stay at home (= It was raining again, so we had to stay at home)
     Since it's too late, I think we should stop now  (= it was too late, so I think we should stop)
 
They're used when the reason is already well known, or it is less important than the rest of the sentence.  These clauses often begin the sentence:
 
      Since I speak no German, we had to communicate in English
      Since it's too late, we should leave it for tomorrow
      It's very noisy here, since we live close to a motorway

Compare:

- Sorry, I must go because I have a meeting at 5  (I'm giving you new information)
- Since today is Sunday, let's stay at home and rest  (we both know that today is Sunday)

THAT'S (THE REASON) WHY (c.)

This relative clause is very commonly used to express reason (especially in its short version)
 
     My car's broken, that's the reason why I came walking
     I didn’t know she was your sister, that’s why I didn't talk to her
     You speak very good English. Oh yes, I forgot your mother's English. That's why

 

abbreviations:  (c.)= conjunction  (p.)= preposition    (see the important difference here: Kinds of Connectors)