1. He chose not to be angry but happy with his life.
2. He chose not to be angry but to be happy with his life.
[Can we use both? Which one is common?]
3. As he started to give motivational speeches, many people got hope through his story.
4. Because he started to give motivational speeches, many people got hope through his story.
5. When he started to give motivational speeches, many people got hope through his story.
6. While he started to give motivational speeches, many people got hope through his story.
[What is the meaning of 'as' in #3? Which one is similar to #3? Thank you for your help.]
One and two, both are acceptable, but two is better.
"As" means "while" in this context, so three and six mean the same thing. "Because" indicates a cause and effect, because he gave speeches, there was an effect, a result. "When" is about time - as if people did not have hope until he started giving his speeches. It's fine, but means something slightly different, although it does state a cause and effect ("because"), qualified by a time reference.
1. Both sentence structures are grammatically correct, but using "but" before "to be happy" is more common in everyday conversation. So, "He chose not to be angry but to be happy with his life" is the more frequently used structure.
3. In sentence #3, "as" is used to indicate a cause-and-effect relationship. It suggests that his act of giving motivational speeches directly resulted in many people finding hope through his story. It implies a connection between his speeches and the positive outcome.
4. Sentence #4 uses "because" to indicate a logical reason. It explains that the reason many people found hope through his story is because he started giving motivational speeches.
5. Sentence #5 uses "when" to indicate the time at which something happened. It suggests that at the same time he started giving motivational speeches, many people found hope through his story. It does not explicitly state a cause-and-effect relationship.
6. Sentence #6 uses "while" to indicate a concurrent action. It suggests that during the time he started giving motivational speeches, many people found hope through his story. Like sentence #5, it does not explicitly state a cause-and-effect relationship.
Similar to sentence #3, sentence #4 also conveys a cause-and-effect relationship, but it uses "because" instead of "as." So, sentence #4 is most similar to sentence #3 in meaning.