ACADEMIC WRITING

Purpose, Reason and Result Clauses

 AIM

You will often need to use purpose, reason and

result clauses in your written and spoken
work at university. This slideshow provides
you with reference and practice material on
these three types of adverbial clause.
 Purpose Clauses
You use a purpose clause when you want to
state the purpose of the action in the
independent clause. The most common type
of purpose clause is a to-infinitive clause.

●
Sarah went to the computer lab to print out
her research report.
●
 Formal Writing
In formal writing, in order to and so as to are
often used.

●
The company conducted a detailed survey
in order to gauge its clients’
views.
●
 In formal writing, you can also introduce a
purpose clause with so that or in order that.
These finite purpose clauses usually contain
a modal.
●
Dr Hampton adjusted the overhead projector
so that the students would be able to see
the chart more clearly.
●
The lecturer finished his lecture five minutes
early so that the students could come and
ask him questions.
●
 So/So that
The difference between so and so that is that
so that implies that the cause was
deliberately done by someone in order to get
a specific result.
 Expressing Purpose
There are a number of other ways of expressing
purpose in English. These are some of the most
common ones:
with a view to
with the intention of
with the object/aim of
for the purpose of

If you use these phrases, make sure that the verb

is in the _ing form.
●
UNICAM introduced two new English
courses with a view to enhancing students’
proficiency in the language.
●

●
 Reason Clauses
In your written and spoken assignments you will
often need to answer the question ‘Why?’. When
you want to explain why something happens,
you can use a reason clause introduced by the
conjunctions because, as or since.
●
As she wanted to practise her spoken English,
Carrie regularly took part in the ELC’s Big Mouth
Corner.
●
Mark joined the English Drama Club because
he wanted to improve his intonation.
 Common Mistake
Don’t use so in sentences beginning with
since, as or because. Here is a common
mistake:

●
Since he was interested in movies, so David
joined the UNICAM International Film
Society.
●
 Prepositional Phrases
You can also use the prepositional phrases
because of and on account of to express
reason.
●
We were unable to carry out the experiment
on account of a malfunction in the computer.
●
We were unable to carry out the experiment
because the computer malfunctioned.
●
As you will see in the Vocabulary section
below, there are many other ways of
indicating reason and cause in English.
 Result Clauses
When you want to indicate the result of an
action or situation, you can use a result
clause. Result clauses are introduced by
conjunctions such as so, so... that, or such
… that.

●
The lecture was boring and irrelevant, so
some of the students began to fall asleep.
●
Peter was having problems with mathematics,
so he went to see his tutor to ask for advice.
●
●
There were so many books on the subject
that Cindy didn’t know where to begin.
●
There was such a lot of material to cover
that James found it difficult to keep up with
his studies.
 Result
There are many other ways of talking about the
result of an action or situation. In some
situations you may prefer to use and as a
result or with the result that.
●
The lecture was boring and irrelevant, and
as a result some of the students began to
fall asleep.
●
The lecture was boring and irrelevant, with
the result that some of the students began
to fall asleep.
●
 As a result,...
As a result can also be used at the beginning
of a new sentence.

●
The lecture was boring and irrelevant. As a
result, some of the students began to fall
asleep.
●
The following words and phrases are used in
the same way.
Therefore,...
Thus,...
In consequence,...
Consequently,...
For this/that reason,...
 Ing-clauses
Causal relations can be expressed by ing-
clauses of result.

●
The government increased the duty on wine.
As a result, there was a fall in demand.
●
↓
●
The government increased the duty on wine,
resulting in a fall in demand.
●
 Exercises
Choose the correct word from the list.
Kelvin changed his major from Geography to
Business Studies __________ improving
his job prospects.
Options:

as so
so that because
with the result that in order that
with a view to such
on account of so as to
Kelvin changed his major from Geography to
Business Studies with a view to improving
his job prospects.

Explanation:
Kelvin purposely changed his major, so this
sentence has a purpose clause. The word
following the gap is improving, an _ing word.
Dr Simons arranged some extra tutorials
__________ give her students more
opportunities to ask questions before the
examination.
Options:

as so
so thatbecause
with the result that in order that
with a view to such
on account of so as to
Dr Simons arranged some extra tutorials so as to give her
students more opportunities to ask questions before the
examination.
Answer:
so as to (to is also correct, but is not in the list)

Explanation:
This is a sentence with a purpose clause. The answer
cannot be so that or in order that because the following
word, give, is a verb. It cannot be with a view to, with the
intention of, with the object/aim of, or for the purpose of
because give is not an _ing verb.
A key piece of equipment broke down __________ the
laboratory session had to be cancelled.

Options:

as so
so that because
with the result that in order that
with a view to such
on account of so as to
 A key piece of equipment broke down so / with
the result that the laboratory session had to
be cancelled.

●
Explanation:
●
This is a sentence with a result clause. The
answer cannot be so that because a piece of
equipment cannot purposely decide to break
down.
__________ Tony has a very good foundation in
English, he had little difficulty in passing the
examination.
Options:

as so
so thatbecause
with the result that in order that
with a view to such
on account of so as to
 As / Because Tony has a very good foundation in
English, he had little difficulty in passing the
examination.
●
Explanation:
●
This is a sentence with a reason clause. The answer
cannot be on account of, as this should be followed
by a noun phrase, not a clause. It would be correct
to write, 'On account of Tony's very good foundation
in English, he had little difficulty in passing the
examination.' as Tony's very good foundation in
English is a noun phrase. Another possible answer
is 'on account of Tony having a very good...'
 Professor Vercesi repeated the point in Italian
__________ the students would fully
understand.
●
Options:
●
as so
●
so thatbecause
●
with the result that in order that
●
with a view to such
●
on account of so as to
 Professor Vercesi repeated the point in Italian so / so
that / in order that the students would fully understand.
●
Explanation:
●
This is a sentence with a purpose clause. So is correct
because it means therefore in this example. Both so
that and in order that show that Professor Vercesi's
purpose was to help the students understand. The
answer cannot be to, because the word after the gap is
not a verb. It would be correct to write 'Professor
Vercesi repeated the point in Italian to make sure /
ensure that the students would fully understand.
 David was __________ busy with his final-year
project that he was unable to take part in extra-
curricular activities.
●
Options:
●
as so
●
so thatbecause
●
with the result that in order that
●
with a view to such
●
on account of so as to
 David was so busy with his final-year project that
he was unable to take part in extra-curricular
activities.
●
Explanation:
●
This is a sentence with a result clause. So
matches with the that after project and can define
busy. Such is wrong because such busy cannot
go together. Such can be followed by a noun
phrase; e.g. David was such a busy person that
he was unable to take part in extra-curricular
activities.
 It was __________ a successful lecture series
that the ASSINT decided to repeat it the
following semester.
●
Options:
●
as so
●
so thatbecause
●
with the result that in order that
●
with a view to such
●
on account of so as to
 It was such a successful lecture series that
the ASSINT decided to repeat it the following
semester.

●
Explanation:
●
This is a sentence with a result clause. Such
can be followed by a noun phrase; e.g. a
successful lecture series. It is part of the
phrase such...that.
 The examination had to be postponed
__________ the snow.
●
Options:
●
as so
●
so that because
●
with the result that in order that
●
with a view to such
●
on account of so as to
 The examination had to be postponed on
account of the snow.

●
Explanation:
●
This is a sentence with a reason clause.
Because is wrong unless you write of after it;
i.e. because of the snow. It would also be
correct to write 'The examination had to be
postponed due to the snow.'
 Amy joined the English Club __________
she wanted to increase her circle of friends.
●
Options:
●
as so
●
so that because
●
with the result that in order that
●
with a view to such on
account of so as to
 Amy joined the English Club as / because she
wanted to increase her circle of friends.

●
Explanation:
●
This is a sentence with a reason clause. Because
of and on account of are wrong because they
are not followed by clauses, but by noun
phrases; e.g. 'Amy joined the English Club
because of her desire to increase her circle of
friends.
THE END
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