Virtuous English AcademyCause, Effect & Logic — B2 English Vocabulary
This B2 vocabulary list gathers 50 upper-intermediate English words about cause, effect & logic — how ideas connect and follow on. Every word comes with a simple definition, its British-English pronunciation and a natural example sentence, so you learn each one in real context. When you are ready, open the flashcards to practise and remember them for good.
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Using cause, effect & logic words in English
Linking words are where B2 writing is most often let down, and the problem is punctuation rather than vocabulary. However, therefore, nevertheless and consequently are adverbs, not conjunctions, so joining two full sentences with one and a comma produces a comma splice — the most frequently marked error in academic English. This page sets out how to punctuate them and how to choose between them.
What to watch out for
However cannot join two sentences with a comma
Write It was raining; however, we went out or It was raining. However, we went out. The version with a comma before however is a comma splice. The reason is grammatical: however is a conjunctive adverb, not a conjunction. But, and and so are real conjunctions and take a comma quite happily: It was raining, but we went out.
Thus, hence, therefore, consequently
All four express result and differ mainly by register. So is neutral and conversational. Therefore and consequently are standard academic choices. Thus and hence are more formal still, and hence often introduces a phrase rather than a clause: hence the delay. Nevertheless and nonetheless are near-identical and both mean despite that.
Correlate is not cause
To say two things correlate is to say they vary together, not that one produces the other — the distinction that the phrase correlation is not causation exists to protect. The preposition is with: Income correlates with life expectancy. For consequences, note the register ladder: result and outcome are neutral, repercussion and ramification imply wide and often unwelcome effects, and aftermath refers to the period following a disaster.
Words learners mix up
English has a large stock of verbs meaning roughly cause, and they are not interchangeable: each says something about how deliberate the cause was and how fast the effect arrived. These clusters sort them, and separate what an argument states from what it merely assumes.
Six verbs that all mean "cause", and do not
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| spark | Sets off something sudden and large from a small trigger. Journalistic and vivid. | The decision sparked three days of protest. |
| prompt | Causes a response, usually a reasonable one. Mild and neutral, and often followed by an infinitive. | The letter prompted a review of the policy. |
| provoke | Causes a strong reaction, generally hostile. Implies the reaction was avoidable. | The remarks provoked an immediate backlash. |
| induce | Brings about a state, often deliberately and often technical: induce sleep, induce labour. Also means persuade. | The drug induces drowsiness. |
| instigate | Deliberately starts something, usually bad, and usually by a person acting behind it. | Two members instigated the walkout. |
| precipitate | Makes something that was already coming happen sooner and more suddenly. Stressed pre-SIP-it-ate as a verb. | The resignation precipitated a crisis. |
The useful axis is intent. Instigate always has a human agent choosing to start it; spark and precipitate usually have an event as subject and no intention at all. Engender is the formal, abstract member of the family — it takes qualities and feelings as its object: engender trust.
Four kinds of result nobody planned
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| byproduct | Something produced incidentally alongside the main output. Neutral — it may even be useful. | The heat is a byproduct of the process. |
| knock-on | An effect that spreads down a chain from the first one. Hyphenated, and used attributively before effect. | Delays had a knock-on effect on every service. |
| fallout | The damaging aftermath of a controversy or disaster. Uncountable, and always negative. | The political fallout lasted for months. |
| upshot | The final outcome, stated plainly. Informal, and it belongs in the fixed frame the upshot is/was. | The upshot was that nobody was appointed. |
Only byproduct is genuinely neutral. Fallout is borrowed from nuclear terminology, which is why it always implies damage that keeps arriving after the event — a company can face fallout, never enjoy it. And upshot is too casual for an academic conclusion, where the word is outcome.
Stated, implied, or merely assumed
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| explicit | Stated openly and in full, leaving nothing to be inferred. | The contract is explicit on that point. |
| implicit | Present in the argument without being stated. Also means complete, in implicit trust. | The criticism is implicit throughout the report. |
| presumption | Something taken to be true unless disproved. A starting point, and a technical term in law. | There is a presumption in favour of disclosure. |
| manifest | Obvious to anyone looking. An adjective and a verb — a symptom manifests itself. | Her frustration was manifest. |
| tantamount | Equivalent in effect, though not in name. Always followed by to plus a noun or -ing. | Silence here is tantamount to consent. |
Tantamount is the rhetorical one: it lets a writer assert an equivalence the other side would reject, which is why it appears so often in political comment. Note that implicit and explicit describe the text, while a presumption sits in the reader’s or the law’s starting position.
Collocations that sound natural
These are the phrases that carry the logical joints of an essay. Several take a preposition that is genuinely unguessable, and using the wrong one is the fastest way to sound translated.
culminate
culminate inculminating inthe campaign culminated in
Always in, never with or to. It means to reach a final and usually climactic point.
attributable
attributable todirectly attributable tolargely attributable to
Fixed with to. The verb is attribute something to something, with the cause second.
fruition
come to fruitionbring to fruitionnever came to fruition
Occurs almost only in these two frames. Uncountable, and it means a plan finally being realised.
underpin
underpin the argumentunderpinned bythe assumptions underpinning
To support something from below — used of assumptions, evidence and principles, never of physical objects in academic prose.
ensue
a debate ensuedin the days that ensuedchaos ensued
Intransitive: things ensue by themselves and the verb never takes an object. Formal, and usually placed after its subject.
knock-on
a knock-on effectknock-on consequenceshave a knock-on effect on
British English. The American equivalent is ripple effect, which is also understood in Britain.
Formal, neutral or informal?
Connecting words sit at very different heights, and mixing them badly is more visible than any vocabulary error — a single upshot in a formal conclusion, or a thereby in an email, will be noticed.
- upshotInformalFine in speech and journalism, wrong in an academic conclusion, where the outcome was or consequently does the job. It also resists modification — a significant upshot is not idiomatic.
- therebyFormal · takes -ingMeans by that means, and it is followed by a participle, not a clause: cutting costs and thereby improving margins. Writing thereby it improved is a common and audible error.
- tantamountFormal · rhetoricalOnly ever with to. Because it asserts an equivalence rather than proving one, careful academic writing uses it sparingly and expects it to be justified.
- engenderFormal · abstractTo give rise to a feeling or condition: engender confidence, engender resentment. It cannot take a concrete object, so nothing engenders a report.
- whereasFormal · two usesIn ordinary academic prose it marks a contrast between two clauses: sales rose, whereas margins fell. In legal documents it also opens each recital of background at the start of a contract, which is a quite separate convention.
- provided / providingConditionalBoth mean on condition that and both may add that: provided (that) notice is given. Slightly formal, and stronger than if — they state a requirement rather than a possibility.
- precipitateStress shiftThe verb pre-SIP-it-ate means to cause suddenly. The adjective pre-SIP-it-at means rash and hasty: a precipitate decision. The related precipitous means steep, and confusing the two is common.
- accordinglyFormal · two sensesEither therefore — the request was refused; accordingly, an appeal was lodged — or in a way that fits: read the brief and act accordingly. Context separates them cleanly.
Sentences to try
Four frames with the punctuation that these adverbs require. Note the semicolons.
- The data were incomplete; however, the trend was clear.
- Costs rose sharply and demand fell; consequently, the firm closed.
- Two variables correlate strongly, but neither causes the other.
- The decision had serious repercussions for the whole sector.
Questions about cause, effect & logic vocabulary
How do I punctuate "however" in a sentence?
When however joins two independent clauses, it needs a semicolon or a full stop before it and a comma after: The theory is elegant; however, the evidence is thin. Writing The theory is elegant, however the evidence is thin is a comma splice, because however is an adverb rather than a conjunction and cannot hold two sentences together on its own. When it merely interrupts one clause, commas on both sides are correct: The evidence, however, is thin. The same rules apply to therefore, nevertheless, moreover and consequently.
What is the difference between thus, hence, therefore and so?
All four introduce a result, and the difference is almost entirely register. So is the neutral, everyday choice and is a genuine conjunction, so it takes only a comma. Therefore and consequently are the standard academic options and need semicolon or full-stop punctuation. Thus is more formal again and often introduces a participle phrase: thus reducing costs. Hence is the most compressed and frequently precedes a noun phrase with no verb at all: hence the confusion.
What does "correlation is not causation" mean?
It means that two things varying together does not prove that one produces the other. Ice cream sales and drowning rates rise together, but neither causes the other — hot weather causes both. In English this distinction is carried by the verbs: correlate with claims only that the pattern moves together, while cause, lead to, result in, produce and induce all claim a productive relationship. Choosing the stronger verb without evidence is one of the most common weaknesses in student writing about data.