Cause and Effect

Cause: the reason why something happens

Effect: the result of what happened

There are words that may signal a cause/effect relationship:

according if…then then lead to consequently as a result in order to this caused

because for this reason due to resulting so since this is why therefore

Examples

Because it snowed, the kids had a snow day.

The children laughed because the clowns were dancing.

(the underlined portion shows the cause)

Cause Joe wasn’t paying

attention and drank a big mouthful of sour milk.

The basketball was deflated.

My friend Sara and I went to a picnic today.

EffectWe brought a

cooler full of food.

The owner looked for the pump.

He made an awful face and he spit it out.

Cause Nobody emptied

the sharpener. The violent storm

rained hail down on the house.

Sidney forgot to tune his violin before he played.

Dad forgot to pay attention to the food cooking on the grill.

Effect The steaks and

hamburgers were burned.

It sounded awful. Pencil shavings

fell on the floor. The old shingled

roof began to leak where it was damaged.

(Underline the cause & circle the effect.)The plants died because Travis forgot to

water them.

Angela didn’t practice her lines, so she forgot her words during the play.

Kevin spilled some mile on the kitchen floor, so he stopped to clean it up with a towel.