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Conjunctions

The most important conjunctions are because, as, since, and so. Because, as, and since introduce a cause; so introduces an effect. These are used to join two complete sentences (or independent clauses) together. They are often used like this:

First sentence conjunction second sentence.

I stayed at home because it was raining.
It was raining, so I stayed at home. (use a comma before so)

You can also reverse the order of the sentences with because, as, and since:

  Because it was raining, I stayed at home.

Note that this is not possible with so.

Transitions

The most important transitions are therefore, consequently, and as a result. All of these introduce an effect. These are used to join two complete sentences (or independent clauses) together. They are often used like this:

	First sentence; transition, second sentence.
	First sentence. Transition, second sentence.

It was raining; therefore, I stayed at home.
It was raining. Consequently, I stayed at home.

 Prepositions

The most important prepositions are due to and because of. Both of these introduce a cause in the form of a noun phrase. They are often used like this:

	Sentence due to noun phrase.
	Because of noun phrase, sentence.

I stayed at home due to the rain.
Because of the rain, I stayed at home.