Although, But, Because & So

Although and But/ Because and So

 

Although and But

Do the following sentences have the same or different meaning?

Although I like him, I don’t want to spend every night drinking with his friends.

I like him but I don’t want to spend every night drinking with his friends.

How are the words in bold different from each other?

 

What is the mistake in following sentence? Why is it wrong?

Although I live in a house with my friends, but I still feel lonely because my family is far away.

 

Because and So

Do the following groups of sentences have the same or different meaning?

Because I find it relaxing, I often go to hot spring resorts.

I find hot springs relaxing, so I often go to hot spring resorts.

 

I didn’t have much time because I had stopped for a sandwich.

I didn’t have much time, so I just stopped for a sandwich.

 

Because my parents are Welsh, I have a slight Welsh accent.

I have a slight Welsh accent because my parents are Welsh.

What are the differences between the two words in bold above?

 

What is the mistake in the following sentence? Why is it wrong?

Because she is my friend so I am happy to listen to her problems.

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Answer key

They have the same meaning.

“But” goes between the two clauses. “Although” goes before the first of the two clauses, and the clauses are divided by a comma.

It should be “Although I live in a house with my friends, I still feel lonely because my family is far away” or “I live in a house with my friends but I still feel lonely because my family is far away”. You can’t use “but” and “although” together because they basically have the same meaning.

The have the same meaning

They have different meanings. In the first sentence “I didn’t have much time” is the consequence and “I had stopped for a sandwich” is the reason. In the second sentence it is the other way round: “I didn’t have time” is the reason and “I just stopped for a sandwich” (rather than a real meal) is the consequence.

They have the same meaning.

“Because” goes before the reason, but “so” goes before the consequence.

“Because” and “so” have the same functions (linking reason and consequence) and so you can’t use both together. It should be “Because she is my friend, I am happy to listen to her problems” or “She is my friend so I am happy to listen to her problems”