Cause and Effect

Aim:
This exercise introduces the vocabulary and grammar needed for the function of describing causes and effects.
(Teachers: Click here for a printable version of this document.)

Instructions:
Read the 'Background' and 'Vocabulary and Grammar' sections, then complete the exercise.

Background

Although it is possible for one cause to lead to one effect, academic subjects are rarely this simple. One cause can lead to more than one effect, for example heavy rain can cause landslides and flooding. Also, more than one cause can lead to one or more effects, for example, eating too much pizza and drinking too much coke for lunch can cause you to get fat and be late for class!

Vocabulary and Grammar

Cause-effect	Example Sentences
...because of... ...caused by ...cause of ...reason for ...attributed to ...on account of ...owing to	There was flooding because of the heavy rain. The flooding was caused by the heavy rain. The heavy rain was the cause of the flooding. The heavy rain was the reason for the flooding. The flooding was attributed to the heavy rain. There was flooding on account of the heavy rain. Owing to the heavy rain there was flooding. (These cause-effect phrases are all followed by noun phrases; i.e. 'the heavy rain'.)
... because	There was flooding because heavy rain fell all night. ('Because' is followed by a verb phrase, 'heavy rain fell all night'.)

Grammar Note: don't use 'Because' as the first word in a sentence: it's bad style.
There are a number of alternatives. You can use:
- 'Due to...'; e.g. 'Due to the heavy rain there was flooding.'
- 'Owing to ...'; e.g. 'Owing to the heavy rain there was flooding.'
- 'As...'; e.g. 'As there was heavy rain, there was flooding.'

Verbs

Example Sentences

may

could

might

can

The heavy rain may have caused the flooding.

The heavy rain could have caused the flooding.

The heavy rain might have caused the flooding.

Flooding can be caused by heavy rain.

Grammar Note: modal verbs such as 'may', 'could', and 'might' must be followed by infinitive verbs, such as 'have' and 'be'.

Time & Certainty

Example Sentences

Always true

Present

Less certain present

Past

Less certain past

Flooding is caused by heavy rain.

The flooding is caused by the heavy rain.

The flooding may be caused by the heavy rain.

The flooding was caused by the heavy rain.

The flooding may have been caused by the heavy rain.

Adverbs

Example Sentences

possibly

certainly

perhaps

definitely

probably

undoubtedly

The rain may possibly cause flooding.

The rain will certainly cause flooding.

Perhaps the rain will cause flooding.

The rain will definitely cause flooding.

The rain will probably cause flooding.

The rain will undoubtedly cause flooding.

Grammar Note: use 'will' with adverbs that show a high probability, such as 'undoubtedly', 'definitely' and 'probably'. For other adverbs, which show a smaller possibility, use 'may', 'could' or 'might'; e.g. The rain could, perhaps, cause flooding.' or 'The rain may possibly cause flooding'.

Also, the position of the adverb is usually just in front of the verb for adverbs of possibility and probability. This is because the adverb gives more information about the verb. This is different from adverbs like 'Unfortunately', which give information about the whole sentence; e.g. 'Unfortunately, the heavy rain caused flooding.'

Other Cause and Effect Phrases:

Causes

There are several reasons for this. Firstly, ...
Other causes played a part. Firstly,
A key factor was... ('key' means 'important')
This is due to ...
This is a reflection of...

Effects

As a result, ...
Consequently, ...
This meant that...
One consequence of this is that ...

Grammar Note:
Don't write 'are lacking of ...' as a cause or effect. Use 'there is a lack of ...' OR 'they are lacking in ...'
For more information on how to use 'lack (of)' correctly, see 'Lack' or 'Lack of'? - an explanation and an exercise.

Exercise

The following sentences have grammatical and meaning mistakes. Correct the grammatical ones and write a comment about the meaning ones:

1. Because the server crashed, the web site was unavailable and the company lost a lot of money.

2. The crash may had been caused by a denial-of-service attack by a hacker.

3. The attack was attributed by an ex-employee who had been fired for using pirate software.

4. Owed to the financial losses and the reduced confidence in the company's security, the stock price of the company went down.

5. To prevent further losses, the company may implementing a distributed computing approach by using thousands of PCs rather than a small number of servers.

6. Possibly this will solve the problem.

7. Owing to a lack of evidence, the hacker may probably not be arrested.

8. I am a patriotic person, so Hong Kong is the best place in the world to live.

9. In the 1998 economic downturn, Hong Kong's economy may be influenced by the Japanese economy.

Answers

1. Your answer was
Not done yet.

The correct answers are:

The server crashed, so the web site was unavailable and the company lost a lot of money.
As the server crashed, the web site was unavailable and the company lost a lot of money.
Owing to the crash of the server, the web site was unavailable and the company lost a lot of money.
Due to the fact that the server crashed, the web site was unavailable and the company lost a lot of money.

(Don’t start a sentence with ‘because’.)

Click here to see the cause and effect phrases.

2. Your answer was
Not done yet.

The correct answer is, 'The crash may have been caused by a denial-of-service attack by hackers.' (Use an infinitive verb after modal verbs such as ‘may’.) Click here to see the modal verbs used in cause and effect.

3. Your answer was
Not done yet.

The correct answer is 'The attack was attributed to an ex-employee who had been fired for using pirate software.' (Use the preposition ‘to’ after ‘attributed’ to refer to the cause. Use 'attributed by' to refer to the person such as an official commenting on something; e.g. 'The comment was attributed by the reporter to the witness', or to a source of information such as a newspaper or web site; e.g. 'The statement was attributed by the HK Star newspaper to the company's spokesperson.') Click here to see the cause and effect phrases.

4. Your answer was
Not done yet.

The correct answer is 'Owing to the financial losses and the reduced confidence in the company’s security, the stock price of the company went down.' (‘Owing to’ does not change to past tense.)

5. Your answer was
Not done yet.

The correct answer is 'To prevent further losses, the company may implement a distributed computing approach by using thousands of PCs rather than a small number of servers.' (Use an infinitive verb after modals like ‘may’.) Click here to see the modal verbs used in cause and effect.

6. Your answer was
Not done yet.

The correct answer is 'This may possibly solve the problem.' (For adverbs of degree, such as ‘possibly’, it’s better to put the adverb just in front of the verb that it defines; i.e. ‘possibly solve’. Only use ‘will’ for high probability adverbs such as ‘will definitely’, 'will probably' and ‘will undoubtedly’.) Click here for more information about adverbs in cause and effect.

7. Your answer was
Not done yet.

The correct answer is 'Owing to a lack of evidence, the hacker will probably not be arrested.' (Don’t use ‘may’ for situations where the probability is high.) Click here to see the modal verbs used in cause and effect.

8. Your answer was
Not done yet.

The correct answer is 'I am a patriotic person, so I believe that Hong Kong is the best place in the world to live.' OR 'As I am a patriotic person, I believe that Hong Kong is the best place in the world to live.' (Don’t confuse personal beliefs about causes and effects with facts.)

9. Your answer was:

Not done yet.

The correct answer is 'In the 1998 economic downturn, Hong Kong's economy may have been influenced by the Japanese economy.' This is an example of the less certain past. Click here to see a comparison of time and certainty in cause and effect. Just changing 'may' to 'might' is not correct, as this does not show the past. Instead 'be' needs to change to present perfect tense.

Score:

Related pages: EAP pages | Online Exercises

Last updated: Monday, 27 August 2012

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