Cause & Effect Review
Cause-Effect – "Newton's Cradle"
Expressing a Cause and Effect Relationship
Summary of Cause–Effect Connectors
| TERM | COORDINATING CONJUNCTION | CORRELATIVE CONJUNCTION | SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION | CONJUNCTIVE ADVERB / TRANSITION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
DEFINITION |
A coordinating conjunction occurs mid-sentence and joins two independent clauses. A comma is placed before the conjunction (for and, nor, but, or, yet, so). See FANBOYS |
A correlative conjunction is paired with another word and is used to join equivalent sentence elements such as one noun or noun-phrase with another noun or noun-phrase. |
A subordinating conjunction introduces a dependent clause, which requires attachment to an independent clause to complete the rest of the thought. When the dependent clause occurs: (1) before the independent clause, a comma separates the clauses; (2) after the independent clause , no comma separates the clauses. |
A transition word is used at the beginning of a sentence with a comma after it. It marks a change in thought from one sentence (or paragraph) to the next. A period or semicolon comes before it. |
SENTENCE |
He saw starving children, so he helped. He helped, for he knew they could survive. |
He raised so much money that they created a food bank. He raised such a large amount of money that they created a food bank. |
The children survived because they had help. Because they had help, the children survived. The children survived because of the help. (noun phrase) |
People helped. As a consequence, the children survived. People helped; as a consequence, the children survived.
|
CAUSE EXPRESSIONS |
*for (reason or cause) *rarely used |
so . . . that (emphasis on cause) |
because, since, now that, as, as long as , inasmuch as, because of, due to, owing to, on account of, despite |
For this reason, For all these reasons |
EFFECT EXPRESSIONS |
so (result) |
|
Therefore, Consequently, As a consequence, As a result, Thus, Hence |
Related page: Fragments (a phrase, dependent clause, independent clause, sentence)
Practice
Select the correct connector to fill in the blank.
- More than one answer may be correct. * Indicates an incorrect answer.
- Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button to the right.