Cause and effect expression

CAUSE & EFFECT

What do we mean by cause and effect?

Think about when you woke up today. In all likelihood, you were probably woken up by the sound of an alarm clock. The loud sound of the alarm was the cause. Without the alarm, you probably would have overslept. In this scenario the alarm had the effect of you waking up at a certain time. This is what we mean by cause and effect.

A cause-effect relationship is a relationship in which one event (the cause) makes another event happen (the effect). One cause can have several effects. For example, let's say you were conducting an experiment using regular high school students with no athletic ability. The purpose of our experiment is to see if becoming an all-star athlete would increase their attractiveness and popularity ratings among other high school students. Suppose that your results showed that not only did the students view the all-star athletes as more attractive and popular, but the self-confidence of the athletes also improved. We also found that for the students who did not obtain the all-star status, their popularity and self-confidence remained the same. Here we see that one cause (having the status of an all-star athlete) has two effects (increased self-confidence and higher attractiveness ratings among other students).

Example 1:

It had begun to rain so Sally and Jake had to run inside.

Cause: It had begun to rain.

Effect: Sally and Jake had to run inside.

Key word: so

Example 2:

Since it was so chilly outside, Benjamin built up a big fire in his fireplace.

Cause: It was so chilly outside.

Effect: Benjamin built up a big fire in his fireplace.

Key word: Since

Example 3:

Elphaba was getting very angry and frustrated because none of her good deeds were being recognized as good.

Cause: Elphaba was getting very angry and frustrated.

Effect: None of her good deeds were being recognized as good.

Key word: because

Example 4:

A great twister picked up Aunty Em’s house, and as a result, Dorothy and Toto ended up in the wonderful world of Oz.

Cause: A great twister picked up Aunty Em’s house.

Effect: Dorothy and Toto ended up in the wonderful world of Oz.

Key word: as a result

Example 5:

We went to the grocery store because we needed sour cream, eggs, and milk.

Cause: We needed sour cream, eggs, and milk.

Effect: We went to the grocery store.

Key word: because

This last example shows the effect being written before the cause. However, you will notice that they only went to the store because they needed something. They had a cause to go to the store.

CAUSE

She had no other options.

She was not protected.

She had no access to health education or medical clinics.

There was poor sanitation in the village.

The water was impure in her village.

She had no shoes, warm clothes or blankets.

She had no resources to grow food. (land, seeds, tools)

She had not been given a chance,

LINKING ADV + EFFECT

Consequently, she married at thirteen.

As a result, she had a baby at thirteen.

Therefore, she was more likely to get HIV.

As a consequence, she had health problems.

For this reason, she suffered from parasites.

For all these reason, she was often cold.

Thus, she was hungry.

So she was fighting for survival.

When we talk about an effect resulting from a certain cause, we use expressions such as:

because, since, as, owing to, due to...

Examples

      The police arrested him because he broke into a bank.

      The police arrested him since he broke into a bank.

      She can't read the letter as she is illiterate.

      He can't run fast for he is too fat.

      Owing to his intelligence, he managed to solve the problem.

      Due to the bad weather, they didn't go for a picnic.

Other ways to express cause and effect:

You can also express cause and effect as follows:

      The cause of ...is...

      ...is caused by / is due to ...

      Thanks to ...