A cause is something that makes something else happen. Out of two events, it is the event that happens first.

To determine the cause, ask the question"Why Did it Happen?" An effect is what happens as a result of the cause. Of two related events, its the one that happens second or last. To determine the effect, ask the question"What Happened?" CAUSE EFFECT The boy kicked the ball. The ball rolled. The girl teased the cat. The cat growled. Sally studied hard for a test. Sally earned an A on her test. Joe became really tired. Joe went to sleep early. Practice pairing causes and effects with these activities: http://www.quia.com/mc/94601.html http://www.quia.com/mc/20632.html At times connecting words are used to link the cause and effect. Examples of connecting words are: because, so, consequently, therefore, due to the fact, since, as a result, the reason for, thus, nevertheless Practice selecting connecting words for sentences with this activity: 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 ...because of... ...caused by ...cause of ...reason for ...attributed to ...on account of ...owing to Example Sentences 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'.) There was flooding because heavy rain fell all night. ('Because' is followed by a verb phrase, 'heavy rain fell all night'.)

... because

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 may could might can Example Sentences 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 Always true Present Less certain present Past Less certain past Example Sentences 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 possibly certainly perhaps definitely probably undoubtedly

Example Sentences 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. The following sentences have grammatical and meaning mistakes. Correct the grammatical ones and write a comment about the meaning ones: In grammar, a conjunction (abbreviated CONJ or CNJ) is a part of speech that connects two words, sentences, phrases or clauses together. A discourse connective is a conjunction joining sentences. This definition may overlap with that of other parts of speech, so what constitutes a "conjunction" must be defined for each language. In general, a conjunction is an invariable grammatical particle, and it may or may not stand between the items it conjoins. Coordinating conjunctions Coordinating conjunctions, also called coordinators, are conjunctions that join two or more items of equal syntactic importance, such as words, main clauses, or sentences. In English the mnemonic acronym FANBOYS can be used to remember the coordinators for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so.[2][3] These are not the only coordinating conjunctions; various others are used, including[4]:ch. 9[5]:p. 171 "and nor" (British), "but nor" (British), "or nor" (British), "neither" ("They don't gamble; neither do they smoke"), "no more" ("They don't gamble; no more do they smoke"), and "only" ("I would go, only I don't have time"). Correlative conjunctions Correlative conjunctions work in pairs to join words and groups of words of equal weight in a sentence. There are six different pairs of correlative conjunctions. 1) either...or 2) not only...but also 3) neither...nor 4) both...and 5) whether...or 6)just as...so Examples: Either do your work or prepare for a trip to the office. Not only is he handsome but he is also brilliant. Neither the basketball team nor the football team is doing well.

Both the cross country team and the swimming team are doing well. Whether you stay or go is your decision. Subordinating conjunctions Subordinating conjunctions, also called subordinators, are conjunctions that conjoin an independent clause and a dependent clause. The most common subordinating conjunctions in the English language include the following: after, although, as, as far as, as if, as long as, as soon as, as though, because, before, if, in order that, since, so, so that, than, though, unless,until, when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, and while. Complementizers can be considered to be special subordinating conjunctions that introduce complement clauses (e.g., "I wonder whether he'll be late. I hope that he'll be on time"). Some subordinating conjunctions (until and while), when used to introduce a phrase instead of a full clause, become prepositions with identical meanings. clause-final conjunctions (e.g. in Japanese), or suffixes attached to the verb and not separate words[6] Karen is rich; __b_, her cousin Kate is poor. a. therefore b. however c. otherwise The kids didn't study. a___, they failed the course. a. Therefore b. Nonetheless c. Otherwise A connective is a word or phrase that links clauses or sentences. A conjunction is used to link clauses within a sentence. A clause is a group of words that expresses an event or a situation . It usually contains a subject and a verb. These definition mean that all conjunctions must be also be connectives. Connectives can be conjunctions ( but, when, because) or connecting adverbs (however, then, before). Connecting Adverbs link sentences and papa graphs together and makes writing more interesting and powerful. A conjunctive adverb is an adverb that connects two clauses. Conjunctive adverbs show cause and effect, sequence, contrast, comparison, or other relationships.