because

Filed Under conjunction | Leave a Comment

The words because, due to, and as a result of may be problematic for non-native English speakers, but careful instruction can provide them with a formula for using it correctly. Let’s look at some examples to explain when and how to use the word because. The first example has to do with an airplane that was flying to Miyakojima but because someone became ill during the flight, the airplane stopped in Naha.

Because our plane suddenly arrived at Naha Airport, our plane was refuel gasoline.

First, let’s fix some grammatically mistakes. arrived is the past tense, so refuel must be used in the past tense. So now our sentence looks like this

Because our plane suddenly arrived at Naha Airport, our plane was refueled gasoline.

However, we are missing a word that connects the action of refueling with the item that is used in this action (i.e. the gasoline.) If you say “…refuel gasoline.” it means something is put into the gasoline itself, but actually the gasoline is being put into the airplane. So you need a preposition to connect this action with the noun. The sentence should therefore read

Because our plane suddenly arrived at Naha Airport, our plane was refueled with gasoline.

However, the sentence still is not correct. The reason for the action comes after the word because. Is “…suddenly arrived…” really the reason? The sentence is grammatically correct, but the real reason the plan stopped in Naha, was because there was an emergency on board the airplane. So the sentence should read

Because our plane made an emergency landing at Naha Airport, our plane was refueled with gasoline.

Although school teachers teach that a sentence must not begin with because, this is not true. But just to satify them, let’s rearrange the sentence to please them.

Our plane was refueled with gasoline because our plane made an emergency landing at Naha Airport.

Popularity: 49%

Mar

5

unless

Filed Under prepositions, conjunction | 4 Comments

Using the word unless can seem tricky, but it doesn’t have to be. Consider these examples:

Teacher: Do you want to take more lessons?
Student: Yes. If you can teach on Wednesday and Saturday.

But you can use the word unless instead of if in the following way:

Student: Yes. Unless you can not teach on Wednesday and Saturday.

Which means you can only schedule a lesson on Wednesday and Saturday. You can also say:

Student: Yes. Unless you can teach on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Which means you can not make an appointment on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

So in the last sentence you see that the word not is used, indicating that unless is used to indicate the opposite.

Popularity: 44%

Mar

4

while

Filed Under conjunction | 1 Comment

What is the difference between the following two sentences:

I studied while drinking tea.
I studied drinking tea.

#1 I was drinking tea and studying at the same time.

#2 I was learning how to drink tea, but this is not exactly correct because this sentence is really saying you were studying about the thing called “drinking tea”. The correct form for this sentence is “I studied how to drink tea.” A better sentence for the form used in #2 would be “I studied ikebana.”

Popularity: 40%