Question

The reason why she is absent today is because her husband is ill.

• A. Absent today is because her husband is ill.
• B. Absent today because her husband is ill.
• C. Absent today is that her husband is ill.
• D. Absent today is because her husband illness.

Hint:

'The reason...is because' is a classic redundancy; the clause after 'reason...is' should start with 'that'.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

This sentence tests the well known 'reason is because' error. When a sentence already starts with 'the reason', the clause that completes it should be introduced by 'that', not 'because', since 'reason' and 'because' both mean the same thing and using both together repeats the idea. The underlined part reads: 'absent today is because her husband is ill'.

1. Absent today is because her husband is ill (option a, same as the original): This repeats 'reason' from earlier in the sentence and 'because' here, which says the same thing twice. It is the classic redundancy this question is built around.
2. Absent today because her husband is ill (option b): Dropping 'is' leaves the clause without a proper verb linking 'the reason why she is absent today' to the rest of the sentence, so it is grammatically broken.
3. Absent today is that her husband is ill (option c): This replaces 'because' with 'that', which is exactly the fix the 'reason is because' rule calls for. The sentence now reads smoothly with no repeated idea.
4. Absent today is because her husband illness (option d): 'Her husband illness' is missing a verb and is not a complete clause, so this option is ungrammatical.

Option (c) is correct because swapping 'because' for 'that' removes the redundancy while keeping the sentence's meaning intact.

Let's summarize:

• Never follow 'the reason...is' with 'because'; use 'that' instead, since 'reason' already carries the meaning of 'because'.
• Options (b) and (d) fail on separate grammar grounds, a missing verb and an incomplete clause.

So the corrected sentence is 'The reason why she is absent today is that her husband is ill', matching option (c).