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Thread: 'reason being' or 'the reason being'

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    Agnes is offline Member
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    Default 'reason being' or 'the reason being'

    My sentence read; 'Not everyone is able to have a church wedding today, reason being that some congregations... (...)'. A 'the' was inserted before the word 'reason', making the sentence read as follows ' Not everyone is able to have a church wedding today, the reason being that some congregations....'. Why can't the sentence do without 'the'? Could anyone explain to me?

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    Casiopea's Avatar
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    Default Re: 'reason being' or 'the reason being'

    It's often left out in speech and informal writing, but in formal writing you should write it in. Note that, there should be a period here, not a comma:

    "...today. The reason being,..."

    All the best.

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    smithr9 is offline Newbie
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    Default Re: 'reason being' or 'the reason being'

    What's wrong with saying "because", instead of "reason being"?

    Not everyone is able to have a church wedding today, because some congregations...

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    Default Re: 'reason being' or 'the reason being'

    Nothing. That just wasn't the question.

    b

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    pyoung is offline Senior Member
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    Default Re: 'reason being' or 'the reason being'

    Dear Agnes:

    Reason=the power of logical thought ("Poor Petra! she lost her reason after teaching English to 12 year-olds for too long!")

    the reason: the specific basis for some action, thought, belief, etc. ('Not everyone is able to have a church wedding today, the reason being that some congregations... (...)'.

    I hope this is helpful,

    Petra
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    Default Re: 'reason being' or 'the reason being'

    Quote Originally Posted by Agnes View Post
    My sentence read; 'Not everyone is able to have a church wedding today, reason being that some congregations... (...)'. A 'the' was inserted before the word 'reason', making the sentence read as follows ' Not everyone is able to have a church wedding today, the reason being that some congregations....'. Why can't the sentence do without 'the'? Could anyone explain to me?
    Here are some cognate sentences. What do think of them?
    "I put A, and I was wrong, correct answer being B."
    "We couldn't fix it, problem being we didn't have the tools."
    "His mother read to him from an early age, idea being that he would speak sooner".

    In my dialect, they all require "the".

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    Agnes is offline Member
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    Default Re: 'reason being' or 'the reason being'

    [quote=Raymott;395173]Here are some cognate sentences. What do think of them?
    "I put A, and I was wrong, correct answer being B."
    "We couldn't fix it, problem being we didn't have the tools."
    "His mother read to him from an early age, idea being that he would speak sooner".

    In my dialect, they all require "the".[/quot

    I think they sound correct; but now I know they require a "the". That is if I got it right. I guess you mean that the sentences are wrong, am I right? They require "the" in your dialect and in correct English I see.

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    Default Re: 'reason being' or 'the reason being'

    [quote=Agnes;395301]
    Quote Originally Posted by Raymott View Post
    Here are some cognate sentences. What do think of them?
    "I put A, and I was wrong, correct answer being B."
    "We couldn't fix it, problem being we didn't have the tools."
    "His mother read to him from an early age, idea being that he would speak sooner".

    In my dialect, they all require "the".[/quot

    I think they sound correct; but now I know they require a "the". That is if I got it right. I guess you mean that the sentences are wrong, am I right? They require "the" in your dialect and in correct English I see.
    Yes you are right. Without "the" the sentences are wrong in standard English.
    Agnes likes this.

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