Cause and Effect Words

Understanding how and when to use cause and effect words is an extremely helpful skill for your child to learn! Cause and effect words and phrases are extremely common in many different types of writing, so it’s important your child is able to understand how they are used, what they are, and how to identify them. Let's get started!

What are cause and effect words?

Cause and effect words are used to explain why something happens, or why you think the way you do. Your child has probably seen a lot of cause and effect words many different times as a reader without realizing it. Cause and effect words and phrases are used very often, as they can help readers understand the connection between two events, statements, feelings, etc. They can be used within sentences or more as transitional words between sentences. Without cause and effect words, readers wouldn’t be able to clearly understand how ideas are connected, which is why they’re so important!

List of Cause and Effect Words

1. Because of this
2. Therefore
3. As a result
4. Since
5. Consequently
6. Due to
7. Resulting in
8. Because
9. Hence
10. Thus

Although this list is not extensive, it can help your child start to identify what words explain cause and effect in writing. This is a helpful list for your child to reference when trying to illustrate cause and effect, or when trying to identify cause and effect while reading someone else’s writing.

Activity & Resource

Now that your child has a better understanding of cause and effect words, have your child give this activity a try! This will help them practice identifying cause and effect words, which will ultimately further their understanding, setting them up for success when trying to use cause and effect words in their writing. Good luck!