Page 133 - English Vocabualry In Use 3 (Upper Intermediate)

63 Cause, reason, purpose and result

A Cause and reason

Youprobablyknowhowtousewordslikebecause,sinceandastorefertothecauseoforreason
forsomething.Herearesomeotherwaystoexpresscauseandreason:
Thecollisionwasduetotheicyconditions.
Thecollisionwascausedbyiceontheroad.
The cause of thecollisionwasiceontheroad.
Theheavyraincausedtherivertoflood.
Owing to theicyconditions,thetwocarscollided.

Language help

If you use owing to with a clause, you must follow it with the fact that. In this example, the clause is
underlined. Owing to the fact that the conditions were icy, the two cars collided. (NOT Owing to the
conditions were icy, …)

Herearesomeother‘cause’wordsandtypicalcontexts.Theyareallratherformal,andmoresuitable

forwrittenuse.
Theriseinpricessparked(off)alotofpoliticalprotest.(oftenusedforverystrong,perhapsviolent,
reactions to events)
ThePresident’sstatementgaveriseto/provoked/generatedalotofcriticism.(slightlylessstrong
than spark (off))
Thenewlawhasbroughtabout/ledtogreatchangesineducation.(oftenusedforpolitical/social
change)
Thisproblemstemsfromtheinflationofrecentyears.(explainingthedirectoriginsofeventsandstates)
Thecourtcasearosefrom/outofallegationsmadeinanewspaper.(theallegationsstartedtheprocess
that led to the court case)

B Reasons for and purposes of doing things
Herreasonfornotgoingwithuswasthatshehadnomoney.orThereason(why)shedidn’tgowith
uswasthat…(lessformal)
Thefollowingsentencesareallfairlyformal,andmorefrequentinwrittenEnglish:
Iwonderwhathismotiveswereinsendingthatemail?(purpose)

Iwonderwhatpromptedhertosendthatmessage?(reason/cause)
Shewrotetothepresswiththeaimofexposingthescandal.(purpose)
I’veinvitedyouherewithaviewtoresolvingourdifferences.(soundsabitmoreindirectthanwiththe
aim of)
Herefusedtoansweronthegroundsthathislawyerwasn’tthere.(reason)
The purpose of hervisitwastoinspecttheequipment.

C Results

Mostoftheseexpressionsarefairlyformal,andmorefrequentinwrittenEnglish:
Hedidnowork.Asaresult/Asaconsequence/Consequently,hefailedhisexams.
Theresult/consequenceofallthesechangesisthatnooneishappyanymore.
Theexampleswithconsequence/consequentlysoundmoreformalthanresult.

Hisremarksresultedineveryonegettingangry.(verb+in)
Theeventshadanoutcomethatnoonecouldhavepredicted.[resultofaprocessorevents,orof
meetings, discussions, etc.]
Theupshotofalltheseproblemswasthatwehadtostartagain.(lessformalthanoutcome)Whenthe

electionresultswereannounced,chaosensued.(veryformal)

132 English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate