Cause and effect transition words for results and reasoning

Cause and effect transition words are important parts of speech when you want to link two actions or occurrences together and describe how one affects the other.

You may also hear these words and phrases referred to as ‘discourse markers of reason‘ or ‘result transition words‘ because they help with expressing the reason why a particular result will or will not occur.

Below you can find some of the most common transition words for cause and effect used in English, as well as some less common ones that may be reserved for formal writing such as essays and academic papers.

In each section we will explain how to structure sentences correctly using these words. We have also included lots of example sentences to help you understand how they might be used in everyday English.

Cause and effect transition words

When learning new reasoning transition words, it’s important to know not just what they are, but how to use them in a sentence.

Each of the words and phrases listed below can generally accompany either the cause or the effect in a clause, but not both.

Additionally, some of these discourse markers can only be used to state the effect before the cause; others only work when stating the cause before the effect. A few can be used either way.

Therefore, it’s important to consider which type of sentence you are forming, and structure it with an appropriate cause and effect transition word.

You might also want to describe conditional results, and we cover how to do this at the end of the article.

Simple transition words for cause and effect

Let’s begin with some of the most simple cause and effect transition words:

Because (of)
Since
As
As a result of
Thanks to
Due to
In order to/that

These are simple to learn because they all function in the same way. You just need to pay attention to which ones come before the cause, and which ones come before the effect.

“The class achieved excellent grades as a result of their teacher’s dedication.”
“I’m going to be late because I missed my bus.”
“Thanks to an anonymous donor, the charity has been able to build a new animal shelter.”
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, the cafe will be closed today.”
“Since it’s your birthday, you may choose anything you like for breakfast.”
“As there is rain forecast today, we’d better not go to the zoo.”
“In order to make our guests more comfortable, we have introduced ergonomic seating.”

It doesn’t matter whether you are stating the cause or the effect first; you just move the position of the discourse marker accordingly. Here are the same statements, arranged the other way around:

“As a result of their teacher’s dedication, the class achieved excellent grades.”
“Because I missed my bus, I’m going to be late.”
“The charity has been able to build a new animal shelter thanks to an anonymous donor.”
“The cafe will be closed today due to unforeseen circumstances.”
“You may choose anything you like for breakfast, since it’s your birthday.”
“We’d better not go to the zoo as there is rain forecast today.
“We have introduced ergonomic seating in order to make our guests more comfortable.”

Note that it is not so common to use ‘because’ to begin a sentence, but it is still correct.

More advanced cause and effect transition words

There are other expressions which are not so forgiving and cannot so easily move position in a sentence.

Words and phrases that accompany the result or effect

The following transition words for cause and effect are used in the clause which states the result or effect:

So (that)
As a result [note: this is different to ‘as a result of’]
Consequently
Accordingly
So as to
In that case
Therefore
Thus
Hence
With the result that
Under those/these circumstances
With this in mind
With this intention
To this/that end
For this reason
For this purpose
With this purpose in mind
For the same reason
This/which means that
In the hope that

“You’ve done an excellent job during your first three months at the company. Therefore, we’re awarding you a permanent contract.”
“Manufacturing costs have increased a lot in the past year. As a result, we’ll have to raise our prices if we want to maintain a steady profit.”
“We all had to work overtime at the office so that we could finish the project on time.”
“I know there have been a lot of rumors going around the office lately. With this in mind, I want to set the record straight.”
“Over half of our staff are off sick. Under these circumstances, we have no choice but to close the business temporarily.”
“You must wash your hands regularly so as to avoid the spread of infections.”
“One lane of the road is closed for repairs, with the result that the traffic is backed up for miles.”
“They spent the day busking in the hope that they would have enough money to buy dinner.”

‘In that case’ is used to respond to information from someone else:

Giles: I’m going to order chocolate cake for dessert.
Nicola: In that case, I’ll get a dessert too.

Note that hence and thus are not often used as conjunctions in spoken English, or in everyday writing. You may still see them used in traditional storytelling or in formal writing such as essays and papers. Overall, though, these words are being used less and less.

Words and phrases that accompany the cause or reason

Next, we have transition words which are placed in the clause that states the cause or reason:

For fear that
For the purpose of
On account of
In view of
In light of
Given that
Seeing that/as
Owing to
Based on

“Hannah never walks under a ladder, for fear that it will bring her bad luck.”
“The store is closed today for the purpose of staff training.”
“In view of the recent attacks, we have increased the number of police on the street.”
“Seeing as Christmas is only a few weeks away, I’d better start shopping for gifts.”
“Owing to the recession, we are having to lay off some staff.”
“We have stopped accepting cash on account of the high number of forged bills we were receiving.”
“Based on the evidence provided, we must presume this man is guilty.”

Cause and effect transition words with conditions

Sometimes you need to state that a certain result will occur IF a certain condition applies. In this case, you need conditional result transition words.

The most common way to express conditions is with ‘If… then…’:

“If it’s sunny tomorrow then I’ll walk to work.”

And often we replace ‘then’ with a comma:

“If it’s sunny tomorrow, I’ll walk to work.”

We can also reverse this structure:

“I’ll walk to work if it’s sunny tomorrow.”
“I’ll walk to work tomorrow if it’s sunny.”

We have a separate article about if vs whether, in case you’re wondering about the difference.

However, there are many more varied cause and effect transition words for conditional results. If an outcome is based on a condition that may or may not be met (in the future), try using one of these:

In the event that/of
Assuming that
So long as
As long as
Unless
On the condition that
Provided that
Only if
Whenever
Otherwise

“In the event that it rains, we’ll have to perform the concert in the hall instead of the garden.”
“Assuming that there are no objections, we will proceed.”
“I’ll come with you to the movies, as long as I can choose the film.”
“Unless we receive this payment by the end of the week, your account will be put on hold.”
“Whenever it’s sunny, we walk along the beach.”
“You may go out with your friends, provided that you are home by 8pm.”
“Only if I make a profit on this novel will I consider writing another.”
“Remember to bring your coat, otherwise you’ll be cold.”

‘Otherwise’ can also be used to present the alternative option in a scenario:

“If it’s sunny tomorrow, I’ll walk to work. Otherwise, I’ll take the bus.”

We have covered a lot of cause and effect transition words here! Can you think of any others? Feel free to leave a comment below to share them.

If you found this article useful, take a look at these other articles which cover different kinds of discourse markers:

Addition transition words
Compare and contrast transition words
Similarity transition words
Discourse markers for giving examples
Discourse markers for order and structure
Discourse markers for concluding