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Cause and reason
Here are some ways of connecting clauses to express causes and reasons
Owing to the icy conditions,the two lorries collided.
The collision was due to the icy conditions
The collision was caused by ice on the road
The cause of the collision was ice on the road
Here are some other 'cause' words and typical contexts they are used in
The rise in prices sparked off alot of political protest ( often used for very strong,perhaps violent, reactions to events)
The primeminister's statement gave rise to/provoked / generated a lot of criticism (slightly less strong than spark off)
The new law has brought about / led to great changes in education (often used for political / socail change)
This problem stems from the inflation of recent years ( explaining the direct origins of events)
The court-case arose out of allegations made in a newspaper ( the allegations started the process that finally led to the court case)
Reasons for and purposes of doing things
Her reason for not going with us was that she had no money OR The reason she didn't go with us was that.... (less formal)
I wonder what his motives were in sending that letter? (purpose)
I wonder what prompted him to send that letter? (reason/cause)
She wrote to the press with the aim of exposing the scandal (purpose)
I've invited you here with a view to resolving our differences (sounds a bit more indirect than 'with the aim of ' )
He refused to answer on the grounds that his lawyer wasn't there (reason)
The purpose of her visit was to inspect the equipment
Results
He did no work.As a result / As a consequence / Consequently, he failed his exams.
The result / consequence of all these changes is that no-one is happy any more.(The examples with consequence/consequencly sound more formal than result)
His remarks resulted in everyone getting angry ( as a verb + in)
The events had an outcome that no-one could have predicted (result of a process or events,or of meetings,discussions,etc)
The upshot of all these problems was that we had to start again (less formal than outcome)
When the election results were announced, chaos ensued (formal)
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Last updated March 2006
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