cause-effect connectors

THUS (siten, näin, niinpä)

The adverb 'thus' is the most common of the sentence connectors. The main functions of this connector are best described in terms of its location in the sentence.

BEGINNING OF SENTENCE

At the beginning of a sentence (followed by a comma), 'thus' can have four different functions. Similar to the other causative connectors in this group, it can be used to link reasons with results, with the meaning of "For this reason" or "Because of this/that". However, the real differences are seen in its use to introduce conclusions inferred from evidence, present a general summary of information listed in earlier sentences, and to express the means for accomplishing an action.

Results ("for this reason", "Because of this/that")
Use 'thus' (followed by a comma) at the beginning of a sentence to introduce a result in a general way. This function has the same meaning as therefore ("so", "for this reason" or "because of this"):

The term "polymer" is derived from the Greek "poly", meaning "many", and "mer", meaning "parts". Thus, polymers are substances made of "many parts".
(Reason Result)

Drawing Conclusions ("This means that")

Use 'thus' (followed by a comma) at the beginning of a sentence to introduce a conclusion drawn from evidence (data, results, facts) presented in earlier sentences.

Table 1 reveals that Costa Rica has far better health indicators than other low income countries. The infant mortality rate is over four times lower and the life expectancy significantly higher. Thus, from this data we can conclude that Costa Rica is significantly healthier than other low income countries.
(Evidence Conclusion)

Summarizing ("In other words")

Use 'thus' (followed by a comma) at the beginning of a sentence to present a summary that restates your main idea (often introduced in a topic sentence).

Much work still remains in the battle against water pollution [topic sentence]. When the Clean Water Act was enacted more than a quarter of a century ago, the country faced a water pollution problem of crisis proportions, epitomized by rivers so contaminated by toxic industrial wastes that they actually caught fire. Although progress has been made in cleaning up some waters, 40% of our rivers, lakes, and estuaries are still too polluted for safe fishing or swimming. Moreover, 47 states have even issued health warning urging only limited consumption of fish from their waters due to contamination caused by mercury, PCBs, chlordane, dioxins, and DDT. Thus, although U.S. waterways may no longer be catching fire, they remain unacceptably dirty.
Summary (Details Summary)

clarifying examples ("for example")

Use 'thus' (followed by a comma) at the beginning of a sentence to present examples that help to illustrate a concept.

The amount of organic material that can rot in sewage is measured using the BOD (biochemical oxygen demand). BOD is the amount of oxygen required by micro-organisms to decompose the organic substances in sewage. Thus, the more organic material there is in the sewage, the higher the BOD.
Summary (Definition Examples)

Expressing 'Means' ("in this way", "by so doing")

The original meaning of 'thus' is "in this way", "by doing this" or "in so doing". Notice in the examples below how easily "in this way" can be replaced by 'thus'.

Informal:

Connectors help reinforce the logic of your writing by signalling the relationship between your ideas. In this way, connectors act as the glue that binds the components of your argument or discussion into a unified, coherent, and persuasive whole.

Formal:

Connectors help reinforce the logic of your writing by signalling the relationship between your ideas. Thus, connectors act as the glue that binds the components of your argument or discussion into a unified, coherent, and persuasive whole.

WITHIN SENTENCE

Unlike the other sentence connectors, only 'thus' can be used to signal a means-result (keino-seuraus) relation. Typically, the first part of the sentence states an action, which is then linked by 'thus' as the means for producing the end-result given in the first part of the same sentence.

Many governments intend to reduce their reliance on imported oil [result]
by developing new energy-efficient transportation technology [means].

(Result Means)

In the example below, notice how using 'thus' allows you to change the order of the information in the sentence. (See also the unit on information ordering)

and + this:

Many governments intend to develop new energy-efficient transportation technology [means] and thus reduce their reliance on imported oil [result].

(Means Result)

Resultative -ing clause:

Many governments intend to develop new energy-efficient transportation technology [means], thus reducing their reliance on imported oil [result].

(Means Result)

Let's now take a look at these two common ways of using 'thus' between elements in a single sentence.

AND + THUS

Use 'thus' after "and" (without a comma) to introduce a result achieved by means of an action stated in the first part of the same sentence. Notice how easily 'thus' can replace the more informal "in this way".

Informal:

Connectors signal the relationship between your ideas and in this way act as the glue that binds the components of your argument or discussion into a unified, coherent, and persuasive whole.

Formal:

Connectors signal the relationship between your ideas and thus act as the glue that binds the components of your argument or discussion into a unified, coherent, and persuasive whole.

Positioning "thus" within the sentence

Like other adverbs, 'thus' (and the other sentence connectors) is typically positioned around the verb according to the type and structure of the verb. (For example, see "also")

Before the main verb:
In 1623 Wilhelm Schickard built the first mechanical calculator and thus became the father of the computing era.

After the verb "to be":
The French government banned wine made from American grape varieties because it tasted like raspberries and was thus offensive to the palate.

After modal auxiliary verbs (e.g., can, may, should):
New findings have suggested that the earth's climate system is inherently unstable, and that global warming could thus precipitate dramatic climate changes.

Resultative clauses

Use 'thus' in Resultative -ing clauses (also called -ing clauses of result) to introduce the result of an action within a single sentence. These clauses are very common in formal written English. They are separated from the reason by a comma and the verb is always in the gerund (-ing) form.

Connectors signal the relationship between your ideas and thus act as the glue that binds the components of your argument or discussion into a unified, coherent, and persuasive whole.

Connectors signal the relationship between your ideas, thus acting as the glue that binds the components of your argument or discussion into a unified, coherent, and persuasive whole.

An alternative to using 'thus' is to use the more formal adverb 'thereby'.

Improvements in environmental impact are achieved by utilizing nanostructure particulates in coatings, thus eliminating the requirement for toxic solvents.

Improvements in environmental impact are achieved by utilizing nanostructure particulates in coatings, thereby eliminating the requirement for toxic solvents.

THEREFORE (siksi, siis)

'Therefore' is the second most frequently used causative connector. Like 'thus', 'therefore' tends to occur more frequently at the beginning of sentences, separated by a comma from the subject of the sentence.

Results ("Because of this/that")

Use 'therefore' to introduce a result that can be deduced, inferred, or concluded by a process of logical reasoning from information presented earlier.

Opponents of Embryonic Stem cell research believe that human life begins as soon as an egg is fertilized, and they consider a human embryo to be a human being. Therefore, they consider any research that requires the destruction of a human embryo to be morally wrong.

(Reason Result)

Solutions ("In response to this problem")

Use 'therefore' when the reason is stated as a problem or need, and the result offers a solution to this problem.

Coal currently provides 30% of the energy in Europe. However, EU carbon emissions limits may greatly affect the coal industry in the near future. Therefore, many agencies are developing "clean coal" technology in an attempt to allow increased coal use in the future.

(Problem Solution)

Justifying aims and methods

'Therefore' also tends to be more commonly used than the other causative connectors as a way to justify both aims as well as the choice of materials and methods used in research.

Aims:
In space applications, electrolytic cells powered by solar cells have been used to produce hydrogen and oxygen for various purposes. When not needed, hydrogen has been released into space. An alternative approach would be to convert hydrogen and oxygen into drinking water for use by astronauts inside the space lab. Therefore, the aim of this work was to develop a reaction system to convert explosive mixtures of hydrogen and oxygen completely and safely to condensed water

Methods:
Uncompressed audio, even at extremely poor quality, can consume as much as 64Kbps. This is well beyond normal modem dial-up speeds. Therefore, we used GSM 6.10 compression — the same compression used for cell phones — to make information available to students with only dialup connectivity.

HENCE

Use 'hence' at the beginning of a sentence, separted by a comma, as a more formal equivalent of 'therefore'. Although both introduce deductions logically derived from reasons, 'therefore' places more emphasis on the final deduction (for this reason...), whereas 'hence' emphasizes the reasons leading up to the deduction (from this it logically follows that...).

Nano is the Greek prefix meaning one billionth or .000000001. Hence, nanotechnology involves science at the smallest level and has been called "molecular manufacturing" because it "involves manipulating matter on an atom by atom or molecule by molecule basis to attain desired configurations.

When used as a sentence connector, hence links one sentence with another. However, hence also has a special function in introducing bare noun phrases (underlined in the examples below). Note that in these cases, no comma is required if hence follows the word 'and'.

The electricity supply industry is the major consumer of fossil fuels and hence the major source of carbon dioxide emissions in the UK.

Fuel cells convert gaseous fuels into DC electricity by an electrochemical process. There are no moving parts, hence no noise and vibrations.

CONSEQUENTLY

Unlike the preceding sentence connectors, consequently does not imply a deduction, but rather a result that is consistent with reasons presented earlier.

Examples:

During the Precambrian era around 4600 to 544 million years ago, only the simplest life existed. There were virtually no organisms producing shells. Consequently, few fossils are found in Precambrian rocks.

Economic growth and population pressure, especially since the industrial revolution, have greatly increased the amount of carbon emitted into the atmosphere from fossil fuels and terrestrial biomass, by deforestation and other land use changes. The processes which remove carbon from the atmosphere have not increased proportionately. Consequently, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have risen to levels which are unprecedented in the recent geological history of the earth.

AS A RESULT

Similar to consequently, as a result is used to introduce a conclusion or result arising because of an earlier action or event stated in preceding statemenmts..

The presence of "greenhouse" gases in the atmosphere changes the natural radiation balance of the Earth. Heat radiation (infra-red) emitted by the Earth is concentrated at long wavelengths and is strongly absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as water vapour, carbon dioxide and methane. As a result, the surface temperature of the globe is around 85 ºC warmer than it would be if there were no atmosphere. This is called the natural greenhouse effect.

AS A CONSEQUENCE

'As a consequence' is similar to, though less common than, 'as a result' and 'consequently'. However, as a consequence differs in that it tends to be associated with negative results.

In the United States, after refiners began using MTBE in cleaner reformulated gasolines (RFG), we found that its use contaminated thousands of public drinking water supplies. It is now the second most commonly found pollutant in the environment and as much as one-third of our groundwater supplies may be affected. As a consequence, policy makers at both the state and federal level are now doing everything possible to eliminate MTBE use in gasoline as quickly as possible.

Some websites have "hard-coded" their text and background colours and as a consequence these websites will not reflect the changes you have just made.

FOR THIS REASON

Because hydrogen is the simplest element, it will leak from any container, no mater how strong and no matter how well insulated. For this reason, hydrogen in storage tanks will always evaporate, at a rate of at least 1.7 percent per day.

Atmospheric convection can also create clear-air turbulence&151;the bumpiness we sometimes experience on aircraft flights. Ascending and descending parcels of air, especially below fluffy clouds (themselves the result of convective processes), can cause a choppy ride. For this reason, passenger aircraft tend to fly above most of the turbulence, at the top of the troposphere or in the lower stratosphere, where the atmosphere is stable and the air is calm.

ACCORDINGLY

The Bush Administration initially felt that there was insufficient evidence to support the theory of climate change or to link human activity to climate change. Accordingly, President Bush announced early in 2001 that he would not ratify the Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

The EU recognises that improving the efficiency and reducing the cost of hydrogen production is the key to the wider adoption of fuel-cell technologies and accordingly has suggested that a high level of attention and effort is paid to this area.

Finnish Virtual University / � 2004 McAnsh, Paganuzzi & Pennington