As I live with three dogs, I am very happy to let my dogs run around and safely play with other dogs from the neighborhood.
As what meaning can I interpret the word "as" here?
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Related: Difference between “as” and “because”? – ColleenV Jan 21 at 15:34
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The cited text isn't really "valid", so the only "meaning" we should assign to it is writer (whether native Anglophone or not) doesn't know English very well. – FumbleFingers Jan 21 at 15:46
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I guess the translators of the King James Bible "didn't know English very well". See Ezekiel 18:3 and 20:3, Romans 14:11, etc. – alephzero Jan 22 at 0:25
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@FumbleFingers: That text is perfectly fine. The use of "as" to mean "because" is entirely standard English. – Kevin Jan 22 at 1:16
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1@Kevin: My point is that interpretation makes no sense. You might as well say Because I have a husband, I don't mind if he's unfaithful. Obviously it's not possible to mind about having an unfaithful husband unless you've actually got a husband in the first place. Equally, you can't be happy to let your dogs roam free unless you've actually got some dogs. But in and of itself, actually having said husband or dogs can't meaningfully be cited as the reason for having specific attitudes to them. – FumbleFingers Jan 22 at 12:32
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As you have used it, As comes very close to meaning since or because but doesn't quite mean either of those things. Since or Because would be setting up a causal relationship.
If the relationship was causal and you were asked Why you let your dogs run around and play, you could say Because I have three dogs. As sets up a similar relationship with a much softer implication of causality.
As in your sentence merely establishes a relative situation without implying causality. The meaning is closer to I am a dog owner. I let my dogs run around and play. Maybe that's causal. Maybe it's not.
"As" at the beginning of this sentence appears to mean "Given that".
This is not actually a correct usage of the word. It should either be "Given that" or "Since". "Since" would mean "Because" here, which also doesn't really make sense in context.
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I disagree that this is "not a correct usage." This sort of construction is explicitly endorsed in Merriam-Webster (conjunction, sense 7), which also states that "as" is a synonym of "because" or "since." – Kevin Jan 22 at 1:19
