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Cause and effect structures

Cause and effect structures are very useful when supporting ideas in body paragraphs with reasons and results.

Using verbs

There are several verbs we can use to show a connection between a cause and an effect.

TO CREATE NOUN PHRASES, PLEASE SEE PAGE ON NOUN PHRASES AND NOMILISATION

Examples:

Drunk driving causes accidents.

Listening to loud music leads to hearing loss.

Air pollution results in health conditions.

Accidents are caused by drunk driving.

Hearing loss results from listening to oud music.

Using adverbs of frequency and modal verbs

'Drunk driving causes accidents' is too strong. It is an absolute sentence (100%). Drunk driving does not always cause accidents, so you can make your sentences better by using adverbs of frequency and/or modal verbs.

Modal verbs

Can - it is possible/ able

May - it is possible

Might - it is possible

Could - unlikely possibility

Examples:

Drunk driving can cause accidents.

Listening to loud music could lead to hear loss.

Air pollution may result in health conditions.

Accidents can be caused by drunk driving.

Hearing loss could result from listening to loud music.

Adverbs of frequency

Always (100%)

Normally/ Usually/ Generally

Frequently/ Often

Sometimes/ Occasionally

Rarely/ Hardly ever/ seldom

Never (0%)

Examples:

Drunk driving often causes accidents.

Listening to loud music sometimes results in hearing loss.

Air pollution frequently leads to health conditions.

Accidents are often caused by drunk driving.

Hearing loss sometimes results from listening to loud music.

Combined:

Drunk driving can often cause accidents.

Listening to loud music could sometimes result in hearing loss.

Air pollution might frequently lead to health conditions.

Accidents can often be caused by drunk driving.

Hearing loss could sometimes result from listening to loud music.

What is the difference between affect and effect?

Affect - verb

Effect - noun

What is the difference between cause and affect?

Cause - why something happens

Affect - changing something which is already happening.

Examples:

Smoking can cause lung cancer. (Smoking is why lung cancer can happen).

Smoking affects your health. (It changes your health).

What are synonyms of affect?

Impacts

Influences (this depends on the context. It should be used for ideas and decisions)

Using complex structures

There a variety of useful complex structures you can use to join causes and effects together.

Examples:

The government increased taxes because it had too much debt.

There are fewer health conditions since smoking was banned in public places.

The economy was not growing as there were many conflicts happening in the world.

Because the government had too much debt, it increased taxes.

Since smoking was banned in public places, there are fewer health conditions.

As there were many conflicts happening in the world, the economy was not growing.

TO CREATE NOUN PHRASES, PLEASE SEE PAGE ON NOUN PHRASES AND NOMILISATION

Examples:

There were many road accidents because of the bad weather.

The restaurant was closed due to not being able to hire enough staff.

A loss of real income happened as a result of inflation.

The government reversed its decision to increase taxes owing to the severe public backlash.

Because of the bad weather, there were many road accidents.

Due to not being able to hire enough staff, the restaurant was closed.

As a result of inflation, a loss of real income happened.

Owing to the severe public backlash, the government reversed its decision to increase taxes.

Using linking phrases

There are several big linking phrases that you can use. My advice is to not over use them. One per paragraph is enough.

Examples:

There are far more people moving from the countryside to cities. Therefore, there is a lack of workers in the agricultural industry.

Inflation has been increasing in many countries in recent years. As a result, the spending power of many consumers has decreased.

Cars became the most used form of transport for people to commute to work. Consequently, the air quality in most major cities became much worse.

Unemployment figures hit 20%. Hence, the government introduced training schemes for jobs which have a high demand.

There were too many health conditions connected to smoking. Thus, in many countries, a public smoking ban was enforced.