It was late, so I went home Sudah larut, jadi aku pulang

Four little words let you join two ideas into one sentence. "and" ADDS a similar idea: "I like tea and coffee", "She reads and writes". "but" shows a CONTRAST: "I like tea but not coffee", "It is small but comfortable". "or" gives a CHOICE: "Tea or coffee?", "We can walk or take the bus". "so" shows a RESULT — it goes between the cause and the result: "It was late, so I went home" (cause + so + result). "because" gives a REASON — it goes before the reason: "I went home because it was late" (result + because + cause). So "so" and "because" describe the SAME situation from opposite ends: you can say "I was tired, so I slept" OR "I slept because I was tired", and the order of cause and result flips. Two rules: (1) use only ONE connector per link — do not use "because" and "so" together; (2) in writing, we usually put a comma before "but" and "so" when they join two full sentences. Note: many learners mark both the cause and the result at once, copying their first language: "Because I was tired, so I slept" ✗. Keep just one: "I slept because I was tired" ✓ or "I was tired, so I slept" ✓.

Empat kata kecil membuatmu bisa menyambung dua gagasan jadi satu kalimat. "and" MENAMBAH gagasan serupa: "I like tea and coffee", "She reads and writes". "but" menunjukkan KONTRAS: "I like tea but not coffee", "It is small but comfortable". "or" memberi PILIHAN: "Tea or coffee?", "We can walk or take the bus". "so" menunjukkan HASIL — berada di antara sebab dan hasil: "It was late, so I went home" (sebab + so + hasil). "because" memberi ALASAN — berada sebelum alasan: "I went home because it was late" (hasil + because + sebab). Jadi "so" dan "because" menggambarkan situasi yang SAMA dari dua ujung: kamu bisa berkata "I was tired, so I slept" ATAU "I slept because I was tired", dan urutan sebab–hasil terbalik. Dua aturan: (1) tiap sambungan pakai SATU kata sambung — jangan pakai "because" dan "so" bersama; (2) dalam tulisan, kita biasa menaruh koma sebelum "but" dan "so" saat menyambung dua kalimat lengkap. Catatan: banyak pembelajar menandai sebab dan hasil sekaligus, meniru bahasa ibu: "Because I was tired, so I slept" ✗. Simpan satu saja: "I slept because I was tired" ✓ atau "I was tired, so I slept" ✓.