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I have several units of information that I want to put into one, or two well-formed sentences:

  • Our product previously only supported Type-X adapters (which are widely used).
  • A few weeks ago the company producing Type-X adapters released information stating they will stop producing and distributing Type-X adapters.
  • We added support for Type-Y and Type-Z adapters to our product.

if I remember correctly, "because" is the most widely used conjunction to express A is the reason for B, but it is also possible to use as or since in some cases - I'm not a 100% sure when I can use which.

In the sentences I want to build, it's important to note that Type-X adapters are being discontinued is not the direct or singular reason for we now support Type-Y and Type-Z - We started to support those because we noticed more customers switching to them, it's meant to "future-proof" our product - but it is relevant to explaining how our product is fit for the future.

My instict says that using because here would be wrong, because it's not a direct cause-effect relation. Using 'since' feels right to me, so I arrive at this:

All models of [product name] build 2014 or later now fully support Type-Y and Type-Z adapters in addition to Type-X. This makes [product name] fit for the future, since [company name] recently announced they will discontinue their Type-X series.

Is this well-formed? Is since the correct conjuntion to use here? What are the rules for when to use because, since, and as?

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  • I think the sentence is fine, although the word "now" is a little confusing/ambiguous. Do I need to apply a patch or firmware upgrade to my model (it says build 2014)? Is this compatibility retrofitted or "out of the box"?
    – Tim
    Mar 19, 2015 at 11:42
  • If you bought any of our models in 2014 or 2015 the compatibility is there out of the box. We only advertise our current model generation. I used now because it's a feature that wasn't there in previous model generations. I can see why the now might be a bit confusing in this example (it's more clear in the context of the product description where it's explicitly listed under "new features of the 2014 series"), I might remove it anyway, just to be more clear. Does using since just feel right to you or can you give "hard" reasons for why its use is ok?
    – Konadi
    Mar 19, 2015 at 11:51
  • Best to remove "now" as it is unnecessary and potentially ambiguous. Your use of "since" is idiomatic (google.com/…)) but you could also end the sentence at "future." and put the next sentence inside parentheses: ( [Company] recently announced plans to discontinue the Type-X series.).
    – Tim
    Mar 19, 2015 at 12:03
  • The main reason for having multiple synonyms for "because" is that it gets disturbing when you have "because" 3-4 times in a row.
    – Hot Licks
    Mar 19, 2015 at 12:42
  • Disturbing? ;) "We're off to see the wizard; the wonderful wizard of Oz. Because because because because because because because of all of the wonderful things he does."
    – Ian MacDonald
    Mar 19, 2015 at 13:06

1 Answer 1

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Your use of the conjunction "since" in this case is helpful to the reader. What may be less clear is that you're telling her that type Y and Z adapters will be an adequate replacement for type X. Perhaps being more direct about that point will make the language seem better formed.

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  • Thanks for your answer, but could you elaborate on why using since in this case is helpful to the reader (what semantic/grammatic aspect does since have here that because would not)? Our product is aimed at professionals, there is no need to clarify whether Type-Y/Z are replacements for Type-X. It's like writing "our software is now also available for Mac and Linux" for software ;)
    – Konadi
    Mar 19, 2015 at 14:43
  • Technically, the subordinating conjunction since is used in describing time, however common usage allows you to use since instead of because.
    – KevinT
    Mar 19, 2015 at 16:32

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