bad / badly
Bad is an adjective. It may precede the noun it modifies (a bad experience), or it may follow linking verbs such as feel and look.
Randy felt bad when he realized he'd forgotten his mothers birthday. After the surgery, you will look bad for about a week.
Badly is an adverb and follows action verbs.
He performed badly on the placement exam.
Badly does not follow linking verbs like feel and look. That is, saying "Jim looks badly" means literally that Jim's vision is imperfect. (See also good/well.)
balanced sentences
When two clauses mirror each other with parallel structures, the result is a balanced sentence. Two or more sentences can also be balanced against each other. Balanced sentences are a memorable way to contrast or compare two ideas.
We must conquer war, or war will conquer us.
— Ely Culbertson, Musi We Fight Russia?
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
— John E Kennedy, inaugural address
because
Because is a connective that indicates cause clearly and emphatically. Other connectives indicating cause, such as for, as, and since, are weaker and less specific.
As (Because) he was banging loudly on the door, Stephanie hesitated. [As could mean while or because.]
Since (Because) the library was closed, he couldn't complete any homework. [Since could mean ever since or because.]
For and inasmuch as are both more formal than because.
He couldn't complete his homework/, for (became) the library was closed. [Note that when for is used as a conjunction, it must be preceded by a comma.]
PUNCTUATING BECAUSE CLAUSES
A because clause before the main clause should be followed by a comma; but when the main clause comes first, a comma is not usually needed.
Because it was starling to snow, they decided to stay inside. They decided to stay inside because it was starting to snow.
being as / being that
These phrases are considered nonstandard English. Replace them with because or since.
beside / besides
Although some dictionaries accept either word as a preposition meaning "in addition to" or "other than," most people use besides in this sense and use beside only as a preposition of location meaning "next to," "apart from," or "at the side of."
Besides the two of us from the English Department, three people from the Chemistry Department were standing beside, the president when he presented the award.
between / among
Between is normally used to relate two items or persons.
The Student Union is located between the music building and the law library. Among is used to refer to more than two.
Because he was so tall, she easily spotted him among the crowd.
