The word ‘because’ is used to join two ideas together and to express cause and effect:
The lemonade fizzed because we shook the bottle.
However, most students overuse the word ‘because’ and don’t bother to find more interesting alternatives. We’re going to look at some here.
Why Not To Use the Word Because
Reusing a word again and again in a paper can make you seem unimaginative and will make it much more dull to read. Using other words instead of ‘because’ can help you to express much more and can help you pack meaning in- all of which helps with your word count! If you are not sure that you have any of the following usages right, simply upload your document to be proofread within 24 hours!
Alternatives to ‘Because’
Instead of ‘because’ you could use any of the following, depending on your context:
The Fact That
The lemonade fizzed owing to the fact that we shook the bottle.
The lemonade fizzed due to the fact that we shook the bottle.
The lemonade fizzed in light of the fact that we shook the bottle.
As a Result Of
Here we need to use the gerund ‘shaking’, rather than the past tense ‘shook':
The lemonade fizzed as a result of shaking the bottle.
Which Meant/Which Caused
In these phrases, the sentence must be reversed, with the effect coming first:
We shook the bottle which meant that the lemonade fizzed.
In this version, we need to swap ‘fizzed’ for the infinitive ‘to fizz’.
We shook the bottle which caused the lemonade to fizz.
These different ways of showing cause and effect are all great ways to show off your imagination and use of language. They will vary the rhythm and vocabulary of your text and engage the reader much more than if you simply reel off a list of ‘because, because, because’!