Review of Cause and Effect Linking Words

 Read through this brief review of linking words and phrases for cause and effect. They will help you to understand a text by far better. You have already got familiar with this subject in the seventh lesson of the first book of yours.

There are three main types of linking words: conjunctions, transitions, and prepositions:

Conjunctions

The most important conjunctions are because, as, since, and so. Because, as, and since introduce a cause; so introduces an effect. These are used to join two complete sentences (or independent clauses) together. They are often used like this:

I stayed at home, because it was raining.
It was raining, so I stayed at home.

You can also reverse the order of the sentences with because, as, and since:

Because it was raining, I stayed at home.

Note that this is not possible with so.

Transitions

The most important conjunctions are therefore, consequently, and as a result. All of these introduce an effect. These are used to join two complete sentences (or independent clauses) together. They are often used like this:

It was raining; therefore, I stayed at home.
It was raining. Consequently, I stayed at home.

Prepositions

The most important prepositions are due to, and because of. Both of these introduce a cause in the form of a noun phrase. They are often used like this:

I stayed at home, due to the rain.
Because of the rain, I stayed at home.