Cause and Effect

Type Feynman

Bahasa
Course
Inggris

What is Cause and Effect?

Cause: A reason, motive, or action that triggers a reaction

or result.

Effect: The outcome, condition, or result of one or more

causes.

Difference Between “Affect” and “Effect”

Affect: Verb – the action that causes a change

The pandemic will greatly affect employee performance.

Effect: Noun – the result or outcome of an action

Weight gain is the effect of poor diet.

Characteristics of Cause and Effect

Cause

Answers “Why did it happen?”

Contains signal/linking words

Can appear at the beginning or end of a sentence

Effect

Answers “What happened?”

Often follows signal/linking words

Cause and Effect 1

 Can often be replaced with a noun

To Express Cause

Phrase Structure Formality Usage Context & Tips

conj. (S + Most common; use in both

Because Neutral
V) speech and writing.

Similar to “because”, but

Because of prep. (noun) Neutral
followed by a noun.

Best in writing; must

Due to prep. (noun) Formal follow a form of “to be”
(e.g., was due to).

Used in formal writing or

Owing to prep. (noun) Very formal news reports. Synonym of
“due to.”

Adds a logical, cause-

As a result
prep. (noun) Formal effect tone; good for
of
essays.

Use when explaining

The reason
noun phrase Formal a known, stated reason.
for
Often followed by is/was.

Shows that
Led to verb Neutral/Formal something caused a
result. Use in analysis.

Synonym of “caused”;
Brought
verb Formal sounds intelligent. Use
about
in cause-effect essays.

Often used in passive

Caused by passive verb Formal
constructions.

Shows partial cause.

Contributed
verb Formal Great in academic
to
writing.

Used in casual speech;

conj. (S +
Seeing that Informal like “since” or
V)
“because”.

conj. (S + Rare; used in legal or

Forasmuch as Archaic
V) religious texts.

Cause and Effect 2

 Use when considering a
situation or fact. Often
In view of prep. (noun) Formal
used in announcements or
policy writing.

To Express Effect

Part of
Phrase Formality Usage Context & Tips
Speech

Adverbial Clear, logical

As a result Formal
phrase transition in essays.

Strong, logical
Conjunctive connector. Use in
Therefore Very formal
adverb arguments,
conclusions.

Conjunctive Use for precise,

Hence Very formal
adverb elegant transitions.

Similar to
Conjunctive
Thus Formal “therefore,” good for
adverb
explanations.

Emphasizes direct
Conjunctive
Consequently Formal result. Use in
adverb
analysis writing.

Use in everyday
So Conjunction Informal/Neutral conversation or
informal writing.

Use when the effect

Conjunctive
Accordingly Formal follows rules, logic,
adverb
or plans.

Use for the end of a

Finally Adverb Neutral process, not direct
cause.

Rare in speech;
In Adverbial
Very formal suitable for high-
consequence phrase
level writing.

For this Adverbial Often used in argument

Formal
reason phrase conclusions.

Sentence Pattern Examples

Cause and Effect 3

 With Noun (Cause and Effect + Noun)

With Verb (Cause and Effect + Subject + Verb)

Follows
Pattern Type Use When... Keywords
With...

due to, because

You have Noun/Noun
Cause + Noun of, thanks to,
a thing/event phrase
as a result of

You want to give a

reason → you’re not
only explaining what because, since, Subject +
Cause + Verb
caused it, but as verb
you’re telling the
whole idea

Cause + Noun (Preposition) Cause + Verb (Conjunction)

Due to the rain, the match was Because it rained, the match was
canceled. canceled.

Thanks to her support, I finished Because she supported me, I

my project. finished my project.

Because of traffic, we arrived Since there was traffic, we

late. arrived late.

As a result of the delay, the As the team was delayed, the

meeting was moved. meeting was moved.

Due to his illness, he couldn’t Because he was sick, he couldn’t

attend class. attend class.

Because of the noise, I couldn’t Since it was noisy, I couldn’t

sleep. sleep.

Thanks to technology, As technology has improved,

communication is easier now. communication is easier.

So

So — 1st cause, 2nd effect

Example

I drank tequila, so I have a hangover

Jogh forgot his anniversary, so his wife is angry

Wendy was feeling sick, so she stayed home from school

Cause and Effect 4

 Because/Since

Can switch between cause and effect

Example

Because I studied hard, I did well

I did well because I studied hard

Since you forgot, I will tell you again

I will tell you again, since you forgot

The children were hungry because they hadn’t eaten all

day

“Because” vs. “Because of”

Because is a conjunction – followed by a subject + verb →

there’s an action

She cried because she was sad.

I didn’t go out because it was raining

Because of is a preposition – followed by a noun or

pronoun → not a full sentence, no verb

She cried because of the sad movie.

I didn’t go out because of the rain

(Formal Usage)

As a result

As a consequence (negative conotations)

Due to

Can switch between cause and effect

Example

As a result of oceans becoming warmer, coral reefs are

dying

Cause and Effect 5

 Coral reefs are dying as a result of the oceans getting
warmer

The swimming carnival was cancelled due to bad weather

Thus
Therefore

Hence

Cause and Effect 6