Communicating effectively is as much about punctuation as it is about vocabulary. Knowing which words help you to express yourself clearly is important, but how the message gets across can be hugely impacted by choices in punctuation.
Understanding this and mastering proper grammar usage can help to make communication more effective and more entertaining since it frees you up to express yourself with clarity and humor. In many cases, understanding basics, such as comma usage, is fairly straightforward. Sometimes, however, it can become a tricky issue, depending on the words you want to use.
Because, Commas And How They Go Together
Understanding when to use a comma when using because means understanding exactly what you want to say. Simply put, comma placement can determine the message your writing conveys. Consider these two examples:
Michael did not win, because he changed lanes.
Michael did not win because he changed lanes.
In the first example, Michael lost because he chose to change lanes during the race. In the second example, however, the meaning is less clear. Did Michael lose because he changed lanes? Or did he win, but for some reason other than changing lanes? In this case, using a comma makes the sentence more readable and helps to improve clarity.
A sentence beginning with the word ‘because’ will often require a comma as a way of separating the two independent, but connected, clauses. Because we use so many sentence structures, it is important to understand how grammar helps to improve communication. See how that works? In this example, the use of a comma is the same as it would be for any other sentence – it simply makes the sentence read better.
Because Changes! Linguistic Evolution in Action
The word because has evolved from a simple conjunction to a prepositional phrase. The used of ‘because’ with a noun, as in “I didn’t get my paper done in time because Internet” has become increasingly popular thanks to internet memes and online usage in order to assign blame or determine an origin. A few examples include:
- Evolution is real, because science.
- I made this picture because procrastination.
- Students today can’t spell, because spell-checker.
- No work Monday because holidays!
This new and evolving use of the word ‘because’, referred to commonly as ‘Because + Noun’ brings with it a whole new level of comma usage – one that hasn’t fully been worked out yet. As a rule, this new usage doesn’t hit the mark in terms of proper usage for papers, tests and essays. Watching how this new usage evolves, however, gives people the chance to see linguistic evolution in action, much in the same way people were able to see the evolution of ‘friend’ from common noun to verb after the advent of ‘friending’ someone through social media.
Using a comma in a sentence which uses ‘because’ as a conjunction is determined by the message you want to convey. Simply put, when ‘because’ is used to establish information which cannot be separated from the main idea, leave the sentence comma free. A comma should be used in order to improve readability and meaning or to separate two independent, but connected, sentences. As with any sentence, the inclusion or exclusion of a comma can later the meaning significantly, so read it both ways in order to determine if your comma is necessary.