Adverbial Clause to Show Cause-effect Relationship

(Using “because”, “because of”, “since”, “as long as” and “as”)

Adverbial Clauses to Show Cause-effect Relationship are usually necessary in the analytical and
hortatory expositions. Therefore, it is very important to understand the use of the conjunctions of
cause-effect relationship.

A. The uses of “because”, “since”, and “as long as”

Study the following example:

Floods happen regularly because the rivers cannot accommodate the great amount of
1. water

Independent clause Adverbial clause

S + Verb / to be S + Verb / to be
2. Because the rivers cannot accommodate the great amount of water, floods happen regularly
“because” + “adverbial clause”, “independent clause”
3. The price of basic commodities rise as the fuel pries increase.
4. As the fuel prices increase, the prices of basic commodities rise.
5. The government develops nuclear power plants to fulfill the need of electric power since the
production cost of the conventional plants gets more expensive.
6. Since the production cost of the conventional plants gets more expensive, the government
develops nuclear power plants to fulfill the need of electric power.
7. The citizens will respect and trust the members of representative as long as they care about the
people.
8. As long as the members of representative care about the people, the citizens will respect and
trust them.

Note:
o “As” and “since” mean the same: “because”. “as long as” means “but only if”
o The conjunction (because, as, since, as long as) may come before or after the
independent (main) clause. Compare examples a and b.
o When the conjunctions come before the independent clause, a comma is needed.
o Both independent clause and adverbial clause consist of a subject and predicate
(verb/to be)

B. The use of “because of”

Study these examples:
o Because the quality is low, the product cannot be sold at a good price.
Because + adverbial clause, independent clause

o Because of the low quality, the product cannot be sold at a good price.
Because of + Noun , independent clause