The reason why/that he ran away was because he was scared

[dorax]

Can we use that instead of why in the following sentences?
"The reason why he ran away was because he was scared."
"That is the reason why I left town as soon as I had finished school."

 

[bubbha]

I was taught in 8th grade English class that it's wrong to use "The reason ... is because...", and that we should use "that" instead of "because" in such sentences.

 

[probus]

Elderly pedants like me dislike 'the reason why' and loathe the tautologous 'because'

I'd write
"The reason (that) he ran away was that he was scared."
or:
"He ran away because he was scared."

"That is the reason (that) I left town as soon as I had finished school."
or:
"That is why I left town as soon as I had finished school."

I too was an elderly pedant who loathed "reason why" and insisted on "reason that." But my resistance has been ground down. It looks like "reason why" has become entrenched now, and is regrettably here to stay.

 

[jutfrank]

If anyone cares, this is what I think:

The reason why he ran away ...

This doesn't bother me.

... was because he was scared.

I don't like this. I would correct it to: ... was that he was scared.

That is the reason why I left town as soon as I had finished school.

I can't really see the point of using the reason here. It really doesn't add anything of use. The sentence is better off without it. Just start That's why ...

Using the reason seems to me more justified in the first sentence because it introduces the sentence. To say Why he ran away was that he was scared doesn't seem right—there seems to be a need to focus on the reason. Of course you could just remove why also, but I think it would sound perfectly fine (these days) to most people if you were to keep it.

 

[bubbha]

I too was an elderly pedant who loathed "reason why" and insisted on "reason that." But my resistance has been ground down. It looks like "reason why" has become entrenched now, and is regrettably here to stay.

"[FONT=&quot]Ours not to reason why, ours but to do and die." - The Charge of the Light Brigade
[/FONT](A different context, though!)