Grammar-ease: Using ‘Because’ in Place of Wordy Phrases

It’s funny how editing commonalities come in spurts. In the past few weeks, I’ve noticed a lot of wordy phrases that can be shortened to “because.”

Do you ever use “due to the fact that”? Or maybe “owing to the fact that”?

How about “the reason is because” or “the reason is that”?

That type of wording is great when you’re working on NaNoWriMo and every word counts as you strive to hit 50,000 words by November 30, but in everyday writing, brevity goes a long way to clear communication.

Which of each pair is cleaner:

• School is cancelled due to the fact that a blizzard is forecasted.
• School is cancelled because of the blizzard.

• I like you because you are kind to animals.
• The reason I like  you is because of your kindness to animals.

• She failed the test because she didn’t study.
• The reason she failed the test is…