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I was reading over my partner's uni coursework before her final submission, and a paragraph she's written in the introduction was making me wonder whether it makes sense in the way that it's currently written.

Query 1:

...sources including license fees (£145.50 a year)

Should this be per year?

Query 2:

The reason why it is called public service is because

Is the 'why' necessary in this sentence? It doesn't seem to roll off the tongue as easily with it.

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    Seems to be stylistic and opinion-based. If your partner feels okay with it like it is, it would probably be fine. 'per year' is possibly more formal than 'a year' if that's what she wants. The second one could be shortened again: '.... is called a public service because'
    – marcellothearcane
    Apr 12, 2017 at 8:53
  • More to the point, she should correct 'license' and, depending on the context she's using it in, the current rate (£147). There was a £1.50 increase on 1st April 2017.
    – Spagirl
    Apr 12, 2017 at 10:19
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    She also might want to correct "the reason is because"--see english.stackexchange.com/questions/34396/…
    – Xanne
    Apr 12, 2017 at 18:56

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The phrase "£145 a year" is completely grammatical. However university assignments normally require formal style, and that phrasing might be considered a touch informal, so "per year" might be a better choice there.

Again, "the reason why ... is because" is also grammatical, but again might be considered informal and a bit chatty. Probably better to use a more conventional and formal relative clause there:

  • The reason it is called 'public service' is that ...
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