It was late, so I went home 늦어서 집에 갔어요

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" ✓.

네 개의 작은 단어로 두 생각을 한 문장으로 이을 수 있어요. "and"는 비슷한 생각을 더해요: "I like tea and coffee", "She reads and writes". "but"은 대조를 보여요: "I like tea but not coffee", "It is small but comfortable". "or"는 선택을 줘요: "Tea or coffee?", "We can walk or take the bus". "so"는 결과를 보여요 — 원인과 결과 사이에 와요: "It was late, so I went home"(원인 + so + 결과). "because"는 이유를 줘요 — 이유 앞에 와요: "I went home because it was late"(결과 + because + 원인). 그래서 "so"와 "because"는 같은 상황을 양쪽 끝에서 묘사해요: "I was tired, so I slept" 또는 "I slept because I was tired"라고 할 수 있고, 원인과 결과의 순서가 뒤집혀요. 두 규칙: (1) 연결마다 접속사는 하나만 — "because"와 "so"를 함께 쓰지 마세요; (2) 글에서 "but"과 "so"가 완전한 두 문장을 이을 때 보통 앞에 쉼표를 넣어요. 주의: 많은 학습자가 모국어를 따라 원인과 결과를 동시에 표시해요: "Because I was tired, so I slept" ✗. 하나만 남기세요: "I slept because I was tired" ✓ 또는 "I was tired, so I slept" ✓.