Rosie: ’Cos… because… ’cause…

Helen: Rosie, the programme has started.

Rosie: Oh sorry. Hello and welcome to Question and Answer of the week, I’m Rosie

and with me today is Helen.

Helen: 你嘟囔着说些什么啊?What were you mumbling?

Rosie: I was just thinking of the word ’cause – Sun Ling has asked us to explain its

meaning. This is her question:

This word ’cause is used in many places. But I don't understand the meaning. For

example: "I come always late and stuff but when it comes to like work I tend to be quite

organised ’cause it’s quite important."

Helen: 孙玲同学想知道 单词 ’cause 是什么意思。不过这都算不上一个真正的词，对不对?Is

it a real word, Rosie?

Rosie: Not really – it’s actually an abbreviation. An abbreviation is a shortened form

of a word. In this case ’cause is the abbreviation of the word because.

Helen: 这个词 ’cause 是 because 的缩写，意思完全一样。

Rosie: See if you can hear the difference between these two sentences; in the first

sentence the full form because is used and in the second sentence you’ll

hear the abbreviated form ’cause:

She refused to go to the cinema because the film had bad reviews.

She refused to go to the cinema ’cause the film had bad reviews.

Helen: I hear people use the abbreviation ’cause all the time. It’s really common in

spoken English.

Rosie: And it’s OK to use it in spoken English, though it is a bit more informal. In a

formal context, like an interview, you should try to use the full form

because.

Helen: 在日常交谈中说 ’cause 是没有问题的，尽管不是很正式。不过书面上写下来就非常不正

式了。

Rosie: The written form of ’cause is spelt C.O.S. or C.O.Z. or C.A.U.S.E. and

sometimes it’s spelt with an apostrophe before it. It has lots of different

spellings. People use ’cause in text messages a lot. But this is very informal,

so I’d recommend using because.

Helen: 当我们学英语的时候，我们应当尽量养成好习惯，尤其是写作时。所以像 ’cos 这样的缩

写，在写作时我们应当避免，最好还是写 because, 除非和朋友发短信时用缩写，大家

不会介意。

Rosie: It’s such a small, short word, but there’s so much to say about it. Sun Ling, I

hope this answers your question, ’cause it’s a really useful abbreviation.

Helen: Ha, you just said ’cause.

Rosie: Did I?

Helen: Yes, you said: "I hope this answers your question, ’cause it’s a really useful

abbreviation."

Rosie: See – I told you it was common! We do use abbreviations all the time in

English. I suppose it’s ’cause we’re lazy and shorter words are easier.

Helen: You just said it again! "I suppose it’s ’cause we’re lazy…"

Rosie: Yes, OK Helen. You don’t have to point it out every time I say it.

Helen: 我才发现 Rosie 口语里也常说 ’cause. 谢谢孙玲的提问。Thanks for a fab question.

Rosie: There’s another example. Helen, you just said ‘fab’ – that’s the abbreviated

form of ‘fabulous’. That’s also quite informal.

Helen: 对了, fab 也是常在口语里出现的一个缩写，意思和 fabulous 一样。Right, I wanna

go now so shall we finish the programme?

Rosie: Oh, there’s another great abbreviation, Helen: you said "I wanna go now"

instead of "I want to go now". You’ll sometimes see this in written English –

and again we should point out that it’s really informal.

Helen: 听出来了吧，wanna 是 want to 的口语缩写。But anyway, I think we should go

now…

Rosie: Yes, otherwise we’ll end up with an extended form of our programme –

which would be the opposite of an abbreviated form!

Helen: Rosie, I think you’ve been talking about abbreviations for too long now.

Rosie: Yes, I’m gonna go home now I think. Oh, I just said another abbreviation.

I’m gonna – that’s used instead of going to.

Helen: Right, well, thank you for listening. 看来 Rosie 爱上口语缩写了!一下子还停不

住。如果你有英语学习难题，别忘了和我们联系，我们的电子邮箱是

questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk Bye!

Rosie: And another interesting one is the abbreviated form of isn’t it which is

pronounced innit… This is extremely informal and …