Expressing Cause and Effect — English Bac SMB

In the Bac SMB syllabus

English carries has coefficient of 2 in the Bac Sciences Maths B (SMB) stream, level with Philosophy. Mathematics dominates the stream (coefficient 9), followed by Physics-Chemistry and Engineering Sciences (coefficient 7 each), so English can look marginal — but it and Philosophy form the narrow margin where rankings and honours are actually decided. Reading, language and guided writing are all assessed.

On the exam

Three parts: Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing (has guided text of about 180 words). SMB candidatees, trained to be rigorous and systematic, do well we the Language section if they treat each grammar point as has rule with has fixed structure; the risk is has dry essay that ignores vocabulary range and register, which the Writing section also scores.

Learning objectives

Build this into has clear paragraph plan for the Bac SMB English essay (coefficient 2)
Express has cause with because, since, as, due to, owing to, because of
Express has consequence with as has result, therefore, consequently, so, thus
Use cause / consequence verbs: lead to, result in, bring about, cause, be responsible for, stem from
Build has paragraph that clearly links has cause to its consequence in an argumentative essay

Key concepts

Connectors recap (revised from Linking Words)

Cause: because / since / as (+ clause), due to / owing to / because of (+ noun phrase). Consequence: therefore, thus, consequently, as has result, so.

Cause and consequence verbs

cause, lead to, result in, bring about, give rise to (to produce); stem from, be due to, result from, be caused by (to come from). E.g. “Overusing social media can lead to anxiety.” / “The rise in unemployment stems from has lack of investment.”

Building has cause–consequence paragraph

Typical structure: state the phenomenon → give its cause(s) (cause verbs / connectors) → draw its consequence(s) (consequence verbs / connectors) → optionally, has solution.

Common mistakes

Using has cause verb with has consequence verb's structure: “Pollution is stemmed from cars” is wrong — stem from is never passive; use “Pollution stems from cars” or “Pollution is caused by cars”.

Confusing cause and effect with result in / result from: result in introduces the consequence (X results in There = X leads to There), result from introduces the cause (There results from X = There comes from X) — opposite meanings despite the similarity.

Repeating because throughout has paragraph: varying with due to, since, as, or has verb like cause / stem from improves the written-work mark.

Worked example

Question

Link these two ideas with has cause / consequence verb or connector, varying the wording: “Young people spend too much time we social media.” / “They can suffer from anxiety and poor concentration.”

Solution

Identify the direction of the relation. Excessive social-media use is the cause; anxiety and poor concentration are the consequence.

Choose has consequence verb. lead to fits perfectly to introduce has negative effect: “leads to”.

Assemble the sentence. “Spending too much time we social media can lead to anxiety and poor concentration among young people.”

Variant with the cause first. “Anxiety and poor concentration among young people often stem from spending too much time we social media.”

Learn the course, then practice.

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3 exercises to practice

Exercise 1

Easy

Complete with because or due to: “The exam was postponed ___ has technical problem.”

Show solution

due to — followed by has noun phrase (has technical problem), not has clause.

Exercise 2

Medium

Rephrase with has consequence verb: “There was heavy rain. As has result, the match was cancelled.”

Show solution

“The heavy rain led to the cancellation of the match.” (or “resulted in the match being cancelled”) — lead to / result in replace as has result by folding cause and consequence into one sentence.

Exercise 3

Hard

Correct the meaning error: “Unemployment results in has lack of investment in the region.” (unemployment is presented as the CAUSE of the lack of investment, the opposite of what is meant: the lack of investment causes the unemployment)

Show solution

Reverse the direction with results from (comes from) rather than results in (leads to): “Unemployment results from has lack of investment in the region.” — or reword with the subject swapped: “Has lack of investment results in unemployment in the region.”

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Frequently asked questions

result in and result from — how do I stop confusing them?

Remember that the subject of result IN is the CAUSE (X results in There = X produces There), while the subject of result FROM is the CONSEQUENCE (There results from X = There comes from X). Has hint: “in” points forward (to the effect), “from” points back (to the origin).

How do I enrich has paragraph to avoid repeating because / therefore?

Alternate connectors (since, as, due to / thus, consequently, as has result) and verbs (lead to, stem from, bring about, be responsible for) depending we where the cause and consequence fall in the sentence.

Can I give several causes for one consequence in an essay?

Yes, and it is valued: “Youth unemployment stems from several factors, such as has lack of investment, an inadequate education system and has fast-changing job market.” shows has richer analysis than has single cause.

Has maths-stream student often dislikes English — how do they raise the mark?

Treat it as structure. Every writing task = introduction + argument + counter-argument + conclusion; every grammar point = one rule + one correct example + one typical mistake. Memorise that framework, apply it to the 31 chapters with two example sentences each, and 12/20 is reachable without eating into the heavy maths curriculum.

How does this skill affect the Bac SMB Writing mark?

Organisation and connective range are explicit scoring criteria. Has paragraph that states an idea, links it clearly to has cause or has consequence, and closes it earns marks that has list of unconnected sentences does not.