(...) for she was a young woman.
What's the exact meaning of "for she" in this context? "For her(self)"? "Because"?
Is it formal? How often is it used in colloquial register?
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1It is very formal. – sooeithdk Nov 30 '15 at 23:24
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In the sentence you provide, for means because.
When are "because", "since","for" and "as" interchangeable?
This site answers the same question with other useful details: http://www.grammarly.com/answers/questions/7163-for-vs-because-of/
In case that site disappears:
"For" is a causal word, primarily functioning as a preposition. Because "for" is roughly equivalent to the other major causal words -- the subordinating conjunctions because, since, and as -- some grammarians have also classified "for" as a subordinating conjunction. Others -- such as Garner's Modern American Usage (Oxford Univeristy Press, 2009) -- disagree.
As a native American English speaker, I view for/because as being similar in meaning, but different -- and not fully interchangeable. For instance, for does not feel right in your sentence, while because of does.
Swan's Practical English Usage (Oxford University Press UK, 2005) tells us because put more emphasis on the reason, and most often introduces new information which is not known to the reader. For introduces new information but suggests that the reason is given as an afterthought. For clauses, used in this sense, are more common in formal, written British English than in American English.
Credit to Jeff Pribyl, who wrote the above block.
