By using the PHP implode() function you can easily add items to an array and then output them as a single string.
// Create initial array of CSS classes
$css_classes = array('btn');
// Add some classes (could be inside a conditional)
$css_classes[] = 'btn--large';
$css_classes[] = 'btn--wide';
// Convert array to string
$css_classes = implode(' ', $css_classes);
// Example
<a class="<?php echo $css_classes; ?>" href="#">Button!</a>
// Output
<a class="btn btn--large btn--wide" href="#">Button!</a>
Join the newsletter to get the best articles, tutorials and exclusive freebies every two weeks.