Grammar ~20 min of the core left

Explain why you are late

After this lesson you can

I can explain why I was late, joining the reason and the result.

Start the lesson Core 18–20 min · steps: 6 · optional: +2

Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.

Grammar

4 min

Explaining why you were late usually means two past tenses together (lesson 2): the background and the event.

I was waiting for the bus when it started to rain.
While I was driving, the car broke down.
I was walking to the station when I saw the accident.

Reason and result — four words, and they go in different places:

	what comes after it	example
because	the reason	I was late because the bus didn't come.
so	the result	The bus didn't come, so I was late.
because of	the reason as a NOUN	I was late because of the traffic.
that's why	the result	The bus didn't come. That's why I was late.

because goes before a whole sentence, because of before a noun. These are two different structures, and you can't swap them.

Prepositions of movement when you describe the way (A1 #22 once more): get to work, walk across the park, drive past the station, go along the street.

Common learner errors

written for your language

because of before a sentence

✗ because of the bus didn't come

✓ because the bus didn't come

or because of the bus. Chinese yīnwèi and Indonesian karena go before a noun and before a whole sentence alike; English needs two forms.

so and because the wrong way round

✗ I was late so the bus didn't come — this says the bus didn't come because you were late. Check: after because comes the reason, after so the result.

The simple past instead of the continuous

✗ I waited for the bus when it started to rain

✓ I was waiting

German, Dutch and Swedish have one simple past for both, as in lesson 2; the background in English needs was + -ing.

too late for late

✗ Sorry, I'm too late (ten minutes after the start) → ✓ I'm sorry I'm late. German zu spät kommen, Dutch te laat zijn and Swedish komma för sent just mean "be late". In English too late means so late that something is no longer possible.

Pronunciation

3 min

At the boundaries between words the consonants link up, and the phrase sounds like one long word:

written	sounds
an accident	/əˈnæksɪdənt/
because of	/bɪˈkɒzəv/
got up	/ɡɒˈtʌp/

The final consonant moves over to the next word if that word starts with a vowel. This is not careless speech; it is the basis of English rhythm.

Text

3 min

I'm sorry I'm late. I was waiting for the bus for twenty minutes, but it didn't come. While I was walking to the station, it started to rain. There was a lot of traffic because of an accident, so the taxi was slow too. I got here at ten past nine — that's why I missed the beginning.

Reading aloud

Exercises

8–10 min

1. Gap fill.

I (wait) for the bus when it (start) to rain
While I (drive), the car (break) down

Show the answers

was waiting / started; was driving / broke.

2. Gap fill.

I was late the bus didn't come
I was late the traffic
The bus didn't come, I was late

Show the answers

because, because of, so.

3. Error correction.

I was late because of the bus didn't come.
I was late so the bus didn't come.
I waited for the bus when it started to rain.

Show the answers

I was late because the bus didn't come. / I was late because of the bus.; The bus didn't come, so I was late. / I was late because the bus didn't come.; I was waiting for the bus when it started to rain.

4. Join into one sentence.

with because
with so

Show the answers

I was late because the bus didn't come. / Because the bus didn't come, I was late.; The bus didn't come, so I was late.

Summary

Covered

two past tenses in one story
because against because of
so
that's why

Next — lesson 32: phoning and inviting.

End of the core

The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.

Lesson 68

optional

Vocabulary for your deck

12 words

traffic /ˈtræfɪk/ the cars, buses and lorries on the roads
accident /ˈæksɪdənt/ when a car hits something and people or cars are hurt
traffic jam /ˈtræfɪk dʒæm/ a long line of cars that can't move
break down /breɪk ˈdaʊn/ to stop working (about a car or a machine)
miss /mɪs/ to be too late for (a bus, a train); not to see or hear
beginning /bɪˈɡɪnɪŋ/ the first part of something
on time /ɒn ˈtaɪm/ at the right time, not late
rush hour /ˈrʌʃ aʊə/ the time when everyone goes to or from work
roadworks /ˈrəʊdwɜːks/ work to repair a road
because of /bɪˈkɒz əv/ as a result of (+ a noun)
that's why /ðæts ˈwaɪ/ for this reason
sorry /ˈsɒri/ what you say to apologise

Writing

Four sentences — explain why you were late, with because and with so.

Example

I'm sorry I'm late. I was waiting for the bus for twenty minutes, but it didn't come. There was a lot of traffic because of an accident, so the taxi was slow. That's why I missed the beginning.

Checklist

does the background have was/were + -ing?
because before a sentence, because of before a noun?

The draft is saved on this device

Practise this lesson in the other sections

Dictationbased on this lesson Write down what you hear. The check shows every word that differs, and how. Write the dictation Reading aloudbased on this lesson Read the lesson text aloud — speech recognition highlights the words it did not catch. Read the text aloud Reading and listeningA1–C1 Texts at every level with comprehension questions; the transcript opens after you answer. Try it

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