Causality (Because / Since / Due to)

Explaining or apologising for something (why you were late, why you cannot come).

～ので vs ～から、～: Reach for ので. It frames the reason as a calm explanation of the situation, which sounds considerate and is safe in polite or formal speech. から puts the weight on your reason itself, which in an apology can read as pushing an excuse.

Writing an essay or a report, and setting out the reason for the claim you just made.

～なぜなら vs だから、～　/　～から、～: Use なぜなら, and close the sentence with からです. It announces that an explanation is coming, which is what written argument wants. だから is the spoken 'so' and reads as blunt on the page; bare から buries the reason inside the sentence instead of presenting it.

Saying what a conclusion was inferred from, rather than why something happened.

～ことから vs ～なぜなら: Use ことから. It points at the evidence a judgement rests on ('from the fact that X, we can say Y'), which is why it turns up in explanations of names, origins and findings. なぜなら gives the cause of an event, not the grounds for an inference.

You have more than one reason, and you want it heard that there is more than one.

～し、～し、～ vs ～ので: Use し, repeated on each reason: 安いし、近いし. It signals the list is not exhaustive, so it suits piling up justifications. ので gives one reason and closes the matter, so stacking ので sounds like you keep starting over.

Naming the cause of an outcome that was clearly good, or clearly bad.

～ばかりに vs ～おかげで: Here the outcome decides, not the register. おかげで credits a cause for a welcome result ('thanks to X'). ばかりに blames a cause for an unwelcome one ('simply because of X, and it went wrong'). Using おかげで for a bad result reads as sarcasm.

Defending yourself after being told off, in casual speech.

～んだもん vs ～おかげで: んだもん is the pouty 'but I had to, didn't I' of a child or of someone playing at being one. It states a reason and sulks at the same time, so it lands badly with anyone you owe politeness to. おかげで is neutral and credits a cause; it cannot carry that defensive tone at all.

Excusing something unexpected you did, to someone you are not close to.

～ものだから vs A。だって B。: Use ものだから. It offers the circumstance as the thing that made you act, which reads as an explanation rather than a protest. だって opens with the protest itself and sounds childish or argumentative to anyone senior to you.

The cause has to modify a noun rather than lead into a clause.

～がゆえの Noun vs ～がゆえに: Use がゆえの before the noun: 若さがゆえの過ち. がゆえに is the adverbial form and needs a predicate to attach to. Same word, two slots, and picking the wrong one leaves the sentence ungrammatical rather than merely odd.

Apologising in formal writing for something the circumstances made unavoidable.

～こととて vs ～がゆえに: Use こととて. It excuses the outcome as forgivable given the situation, which is why it appears in written apologies. がゆえに only asserts the logical cause, with no plea attached, so it sounds like an explanation for why you are not sorry.