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Sentences such as the following can be found (language log).

  • The reason he left is because he was not respected. (1)

They can be transformed as follows.

  • He left [for the reason that/because] he was not repected. ("for the reason that" is equivalent to "because") (2)

It follows that when using (1) the speaker is really saying (3) below.

  • The reason he left is for the reason that he was not repected. (substitution of equivalent phrase from (2)) (3)

Should we recognize a redundancy in this formulation (I think we should), or is there a way to resolve this apparent problem? Which is it?

LPH
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  • Yes, I consider that there is a redundancy there; I would say "The reason is that..." – Kate Bunting Aug 19 '23 at 07:51
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    Apparent problem? I don't see any logic in your claim. The usual form in a relative construction is "The reason (why/that) he left is that he was not respected". The non-relative "He left because he was not respected" is also fine and common. – BillJ Aug 19 '23 at 07:53
  • @BillJ It is very apparent to me, and frankly I can't see how (1) could be justified, unless the equivalence I perceive is an error, but I do not see that error if it is there. – LPH Aug 19 '23 at 07:57
  • I disagree that there is an equivalence between (1) and (3). On what grounds do you claim that there is? – BillJ Aug 19 '23 at 08:00
  • @BillJ That seems evident; it's only needed to read "because=for the reason that"; that is in that point that could be hidden some error. – LPH Aug 19 '23 at 08:05
  • @BillJ This reasoning is strictly personal; I just verified now after your comment that as a conjunction "because" does mean "for the reason that" (SOED), as it seemed inescapable to me. – LPH Aug 19 '23 at 08:24
  • We don't say "The reason he left is because ... . Btw, in modern grammar "because" is a preposition, not a conjunction. – BillJ Aug 19 '23 at 08:38
  • You can leave because of a reason which is generally a clear and conscious thought, or due to other vaguer circumstances that don't constitute a reason. Although I think the reason is is often used simply for emphasis. I don't entirely understand the nuances of the question though. – Stuart F Aug 19 '23 at 09:39
  • @StuartF What the OP is saying is that if "because" means "for the reason that", then semantically it duplicates the meaning of "reason" in "The reason he left is because he was not respected". – BillJ Aug 19 '23 at 11:46
  • "apparently patent" → apparently easily recognizable or apparently obvious … I think you're in the same glass house. – HippoSawrUs Aug 19 '23 at 18:26
  • @HippoSawrUs The way I see it is that the redundancy seems evident, so it is a patent redundancy, but on second thought what seems to be an evidence could be mere appearance, therefore the thing is presented as being apparently that. However it seems that you are saying that this title itself contains a redundancy; I don't understand that. It seems also that you might be saying that "apparently" cannot modify "patent"; should it be "apparent patent redundancy" then (where "apparent" modifies "patent redundancy")? (apparent: seemingly true but maybe not so). – LPH Aug 19 '23 at 19:15

2 Answers2

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You might find this article helpful https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/usage-of-reason-is-because-redundant

One of the points mentioned:

'Sentences of the form "If you're tired, it's because you stayed up all night playing video games again" are certainly recognizable as standard English. If because can refer to a pronoun like it or to the also common this or that ("this/that is because"), there is no logical reason it should not refer to a noun like reason. Thus, the grammatical objection to "the reason is because" doesn't hold up.'

user424874
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The reason he left is because he was not respected.

That's the kind of sentence a teacher of expository writing would flag as verbose or chatty/talky, not as ungrammatical. A succinct version would be:

He left because he was not respected.

A teacher of fiction writing might welcome the original version as being true to how many people speak.

TimR
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