The reason _______I write to you is to tell you about my new friend Henry.

[嘟嘟嘟嘟]

The reason___________ I write to you is to tell you about my new friend Henry.
Is it right to use "that", "why' or "/(nothing)" for the blank in the above sentence?
Sorry for so many questions from me all of a sudden. I hope they didn't annoy you.

 

[jutfrank]

Either that or nothing.

 

[嘟嘟嘟嘟]

Either that or nothing.

Can't "why" be used in the sentence?

 

[Rover_KE]

Are you aware that a better opening would be I'm writing to tell you about ...? or even The reason I'm writing to you is to tell you about ...

 

[GoesStation]

Sorry for so many questions from me all of a sudden. I hope they [STRIKE]didn't[/STRIKE] aren't annoying you.

See above. We're here to help. We don't allow "flooding", which is overuse of the forum to the exclusion of other members, but an occasional flurry of questions is okay. A moderator will let you know if you step over the line.

 

[TheParser]

The reason___________ I write to you is to tell you about my new friend Henry.

NOT A TEACHER


Here is the advice of a scholar who(m) many people respect.

"That was the reason (that) he lied to you." The "that" is optional.

My source says that "that" can be replaced by "why" or "for which." (But only in defining clauses, such as his example.) -- L.G. Alexander, Longman English Grammar (1988), page 22.

*****

Here is a comment from someone who is considered by many Americans to be a reliable guide: "Reason why" has long "been idiomatic, and good writers routinely use it." -- Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage (1998), page 558.

 

[jutfrank]

I think reason why can work well sometimes but not always. For example:

There are several reasons why people use it.

In the sentence above, that doesn't work as well, I think. Here, it includes a sense of for ... to (if you follow what I mean) with reason having a sense of purpose, similar to There are several reasons for people to use it.

Piscean's sentence in post #8 is not comparable because there, reason means something different. You can't recast it as The reason for me to dislike it is ...

I imagine I'm alone on making this distinction. This post is not meant to be advice in any way.