 using because correctly in English. This lesson will help you learn how to use because correctly in English writing. It will also answer some of the most common questions students have with words like this. Ready to begin? A lot of students have problems with the word because in English. Using because in sentences can be quite confusing but it doesn't have to be. This video will explain how to use because correctly so you won't be making so many of these types of mistakes in your writing. Sentence Fragments. English teachers often label groups of words with because as sentence fragments. Let's explore this a little more. A sentence fragment is a piece of a sentence. That means the sentence is not complete. Something is missing or unfulfilled. A sentence fragment can be like the branch of a tree. The tree can survive without the branch but the branch can't survive without the tree. See if you can detect the sentence fragment in the following examples. I started eating cookies because I was hungry. I couldn't stop. Did you find it? It's in red here. Because I was hungry by itself is not a complete sentence. So how do you fix it? The sentence fragment needs to be connected to another sentence. The one before or after it. For example, because I was hungry I started eating cookies or because I was hungry I couldn't stop. Here's where it gets tricky. If you connect the fragment to the previous sentence no comma or capitalization is needed. For example, I started eating a bag of cookies because I was hungry. Notice in this sentence the because is not capitalized and there's no comma because it comes at the end of the sentence. However, if you put it before the next sentence both capitalization and a comma are required. For example, capital B because I was hungry comma I couldn't stop. Why do we do this? Well, there are two main reasons. First of all the first word of a sentence is always capitalized. Words in the middle are not. The fragment functions as a type of introduction and the comma is like a signal to let you know that the main idea will follow. For example, because it was late the teacher wouldn't accept my homework. The teacher wouldn't accept my homework because it was late. In sentence B the main idea is already emphasized because it comes at the beginning of the sentence. No comma is needed to highlight what's coming next. Is there another way to fix this problem? Yes, there is. Delete because. For example, I started eating cookies. I was hungry. I couldn't stop. This can sound a little bit choppy so be careful. You might want to use other words to connect your ideas together. To combine sentences there are several different words you can use. For example, I love cookies so I eat them a lot. I love cookies however I don't eat too many. These words require a different type of punctuation and we're not going to talk about that right now. Just be aware that certain extra words called subordinators make a sentence incomplete. For example, although I love cookies, sounds like something is missing there. Words like because actually create the fragment. When you add an extra word to the beginning of a sentence it often creates a sentence fragment. It's like weighing the branch down and if it breaks from the tree the branch will not survive on its own. Look at the example. Because there is too much weight the branch might break. Common subordinators are because although if, when, before, after, since, until, as, wherever, and so on. Compare these two groups of words. The sentence fragment is on the left and the complete sentence is on the right. For example, because I ate too much it sounds like something is missing. If you say I ate too much that's a complete sentence or complete thought. Some other sentence fragments with the extra words at the beginning are although he played baseball a complete sentence would simply be he played baseball. If you want to win you want to win. After I finished my homework I finished my homework. Wherever I want to go I want to go. Can you see and feel the difference between the sentence fragment with the extra word at the beginning and the complete sentence without the extra word at the beginning? Can we ever use sentence fragments alone? Sometimes, for example, in answer to a question. For example, why did you drink all the orange juice? Because I was thirsty. When will you come home? After I finished my work. When writing statements however make sure that your sentence fragment is connected to the full sentence before or after it. These answers to questions are used more in spoken than written English. Also in spoken English people sometimes reduce because to cause. It's usually pronounced cause. For example, a guy to a friend. Why didn't you come to the party? Friend to guy. Cause I was sick. Is there anything else? Well you need to be careful with because of. Because is followed by a subject and verb. We call this a clause if it has a subject and verb. For example, because the weather was bad they called off the game. Because of is followed by just a noun. We call this a phrase. Because of the weather they called off the game. Hope that was helpful. If you learn from this video please give us a thumbs up in the comment section below. Also don't forget to subscribe to our channel. Thanks for watching. This video was brought to you by the following English learning websites.