inasmuch as vs because

[uktous]

Hi,

Question1:
Any difference between sentence 1 and 2?
Question2:
Are there any circumstance in which inasmuch as is difference from because?

Sentence1:
We can seat them together, inasmuch as they are friends.
Sentence2:
We can seat them together, because they are friends.

Thanks

[5jj]

1. inasmuch as (two words) generally comments on why you have said something.
2. inasmuch as is rather formal.
3. Sentence #2 is far more likely than sentence #1.
4. Most learners, and most native speakers, never encounter inasmuch as.

[uktous]

1. inasmuch as (two words) generally comments on why you have said something.
2. inasmuch as is rather formal.
3. Sentence #2 is far more likely than sentence #1.
4. Most learners, and most native speakers, never encounter inasmuch as.

hi,

thank you for your reply

what is the meaning of your point 3?

are you saying that:
Sentence 1 implies I guess they are friend.
Sentence 2 implies I have proved that they are friend.

thanks

[5jj]

what is the meaning of your point 3?
It means that you are far more likely to hear/see 'because' than 'inasmuch as'.

aAre you saying that: Sentence 1 implies I guess they are friends.
Sentence 2 implies I have proved that they are friends ?
No. In both sentences the speaker presumably knows they are friends.

Don't try to read things into my words that aren't there. I don't always succeed, but I try to express myself so that I mean what I write and write what I mean.

[BobK]

... 'far more likely' just means 'far more likely'. Besides, I would say that 'inasmuch as' was just wrong in this context. It's very rare, and people who use it wrongly just risk looking silly.

'Inasmuch as' is closer in meaning to 'to the extent that' or 'in that' than it is to 'because'. 'We are colleagues, inasmuch as we work for the same company. But that company has more than 100,000 employees; we don't even work in the same continent.'

Just avoid it

b

[5jj]

Bob's post #5 is a better response to the OP than my post #2.