Writers are sometimes puzzled about whether to use “because,” “since,” or “as” to indicate a connection between two events.
An old rule commands that “since” be used exclusively for events involving the passage of time, but this ukase is debunked by most grammarians. Other experts say that “since” implies a more tenuous cause-effect relationship than “because.”
But I have a different take on the matter. In my own writing, I avoid “since” wherever “because” works. This helps prevent ambiguity and the possibility of miscuing the reader. Consider the sentence “Since the negative earnings report was published, the stock declined.” Does the writer mean that one event caused the other – or simply that time elapsed between them?
As for “as,” this word may also communicate a confusing or ambiguous message. Example: “As I’m traveling to Chicago, I can run that errand for you.” Does the “as” here mean “because” or “while”? If “because” makes sense, use it instead of “as.”
[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book recently published by AWAI that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.]
Similar Articles:
- Take Advantage of Stocks That Lost Because of “Guilt by Association” – So far, 2009 is starting off much like 2008 ended: not good for the market. But I remain bullish abo…
- What’s Your Preposition? – A reader of this column writes: “I appreciate how Early to Rise expands my vocabulary and answers gr…
- Why I’m Afraid of Bullish PEGs – The PEG ratio compares a stock’s price (as measured by the price-to-earnings ratio or P/E) with its …
- The Language Perfectionist: Fragmentation Grenades – Our grade-school teachers instructed us to write complete sentences – "complete" meaning t…
- Fantasy Value Can Lead You Down the Wrong Path – If you like to buy companies on the cheap – like I do – you probably look at their P/Es. That’s fine…
- How to Confuse an Internet Marketer With Just 2 Words – Here’s an easy way to octuple your revenues: Collect your customers’ e-mail AND mailing addresses. Y…
- The Language Perfectionist: A “Proverbial” Proviso – One of my pet linguistic peeves is the frequent misuse of the adjective proverbial. Consider this se…