Thursday December 29, 2005
Join for a reason
By GUY PERRING
Joining short phrases effectively is a measure of how fluent you are as a writer. This is particularly important in business where facts need to be supported with evidence.
The most common way to join sentences is with the correct conjunction. For example, because, as and since are very common in answering the question Why? when joining two clauses, but their usage is often confusing. Take the example below:
1) The company went bankrupt because of a huge drop in sales.
The because clause comes after the main clause, and when the reason is the most important thing. As and since are used when the reason is already well-known and/or less important. The as or since clause often comes at the beginning of the sentence and is separated from the main clause by a comma:
2) As my secretary had finished the report when I arrived at work, I was able to give a confident presentation to the board that afternoon. (I am telling you about the presentation. It’s not so important why I gave a successful presentation.)
3) Since the Nikkei is closed today, we’ll have the meeting this morning. (I know, and you know, that the Nikkei is closed today.)
Note! In conversation, so is often used instead of since and as. The so clause comes after the main clause.
4) My secretary had finished the report when I arrived at work, so I was able to give a confident presentation to the board.
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