Talking about cause and effect

Talking about cause and effect

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Cause and effect

When we talk about an effect resulting from a certain cause, we use expressions such as: because, since, as, owing to, due to...

 Examples

• The police arrested him because he broke into a bank.
• The police arrested him since he broke into a bank.
• She can't read the letter as she is illiterate.
• He can't run fast for he is too fat.
• Owing to his intelligence, he managed to solve the problem.
• Due to the bad weather, they didn't go for a picnic.

Other ways to express cause and effect:

You can also express cause and effect as follows:

• The cause of …is…
• …is caused by / is due to …
• Thanks to ...

 Examples:

The cause of	global warming	is pollution.
Global warming	is caused by	pollution.
	is due to

Thanks to

his hard work ,

he passed the exam

Is there a difference between due to and owing to?

Owing to and due to are used interchangeably by native speakers although some state that there is a difference.
a. Due to:
If you can use caused by then you can also use due to:
Example:

"The cancellation of the flight was due to (caused by) high winds."

b. Owing to:
If you can use because of then you should use owing to rather than due to:
Example:

"The flight was canceled owing to (because of) high winds."

Use of thanks to

People tend to use thanks to in positive situations.
Example:

"Thanks to his intelligence he managed to find the solution to that math problem."

Sometimes thanks to is used ironically in a negative way
Example:

"Did she lose the election?"
"Yeah, thanks to you and to all the others who didn't bother to vote."
"The baby is awake thanks to your shouting."

Things to remember about cause and effect:

a. Due to, because of, owing to and thanks to are followed by a noun.
b. Because, since, as, for are followed by a verb.

Due to	+      Noun
Because of
Owing to
Thanks to

because	Subject + Verb
since
as
for

Examples:

• Due to his laziness, he didn't pass the exam.
• Thanks to her beauty, she attracted the attention of all the guests.
• Because / since /as / they are in love, they forgive each other's mistakes.

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Expressing Probability

Expressing Probability

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Expressing probability or improbability:

See the difference between probability and possibility.

There are many ways to say that something will probably or improbably happen.

Probability / improbability

...	may might can could	...
... will	probably
It's	probable improbable likely unlikely	that ...

I	doubt suppose guess	... will ...
	'd be surprised	if ....

Perhaps May be

... will ...

Examples of probability:

• It is probable that my grandfather repairs my bike.
• May be / perhaps the problem won’t be serious.
• It will probably rain this evening.
• I’m likely to do the work myself.

Examples of improbability:

• No, probably not.
• I don't suppose my grandfather will repair the bike.
• I doubt my father will buy me a new computer, either.
• She is unlikely to return home early this evening.
• I'd be surprised if he got the best score.
• It's unlikely he will find his lost keys.

Expressing probability in the past:

...

may might can could

have

Past Participle

Examples of probability in the past:

• He may have robbed your computer while you were out.
• The criminal might have threatened her. That's why, she was afraid of him.
• The author might have carried a deep research on the subject. That's why his book is so interesting.

Examples of improbability in the past:

• He may have not lived in this town. Nobody seems to know him.
• She can't have helped him in his crime as they have never met before.

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How to Apologizing

Apologizing

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Apologizing

To apologize is to tell someone that you are sorry for having done something that has caused him inconvenience or unhappiness:

Examples:

 I must apologize to Isabel for my late arrival.
 I'd like to apologize for my trouble making.
Trains may be subject to delay on the northern line. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
Here are some expressions you can use to make and respond to apologies

Making apologies:

• I do apologize for...
• I must apologize for...
• I apologize for...
• I'd like to apologize for...
• I am so sorry for...
• I shouldn't have...
• It's all my fault.
• I'm ashamed of...
• Please, forgive me for...
• Excuse me for ...
• I'm terribly sorry for...
• Pardon me for this...
• Please, forgive me for my....
• Please, accept my apologies for...

Accepting apologies:

• That's all right.
• Never mind.
• Don't apologize.
• It doesn't matter.
• Don't worry about it.
• Don't mention it.
• That's OK.
• I quite understand.
• You couldn't help it.
• Forget about it.
• Don't worry about it.
• No harm done.

Remember:

"I'd like to apologize" is the short form of "I would like to apologize"

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Expressing Possibility

Expressing Possibility

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What is the difference between possibility and probability?

Possibility is when there is a chance that something may happen or be true while probability is the likelihood of something happening or being true:

Example:
"Until yesterday, the project was just a possibility, but now it has become a real probability."
It is likely that it will happen.

Expressing Possibility

• My grandmother may travel alone.
• May be she will make the trip alone.
• Perhaps she will visit London.
• Possibly, she will go by plane.
• It's possible that someone will meet her at the airport.
• She might buy some presents for the family before she goes.
• I suppose she might spend a lot of money on the presents.
• There's a chance she'll like the city.
• She will take an umbrella as it could rain heavily there..

Expressing impossibility

• No, it's impossible to repair that old Chevrolet.
• Even a good mechanic can't possibly fix it.
• We may not be able to travel by car.
• There's no chance my father repairs it tomorrow.

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Making and responding to a request

Making and responding to a request

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Making and responding to a request

It's important to be polite when you ask for something.
You can make a request by using:

• can you ...?
• could you ...?
• will you ...?
• would you mind ...?

Here are some examples of how to make a request..

Can you Will you Could you possibly	open the door for me, please?
would you mind	opening the door for me ?

Making Request:

• Can you show me your photo album, please?
• Will you lend me your book, please?
• Could you possibly show me the way to the post office, please?
• Would you help me with this exercise, please?
• Would you mind lending me your pen, please?

Responding to request:

• Sure here you are.
• Okey.
• No, I'm sorry I need it
• I'm afraid I can't.

Things to remember about making a request:

1. "Would you mind..." is followed by a gerund (verb+ing)
Example:"Would you mind lending me your book? "
2. The response to the following request:

A: "Would you mind giving me your book? "

is either

• "No, I don't mind."(which is a positive response to the request. It means that I accept to lend you my book)
• or "Yes." (which is a negative response to the request. It means that I don't want to lend you my book.)

3. Could is more polite than can.

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Direct and Indirect Object

Direct and Indirect Object

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What is an object?

An object in grammar is a part of a sentence, and often part of the predicate. It refers to someone or something involved in thesubject's "performance" of the verb. It is what the verb is being done to. As an example, the following sentence is given:

Subject	Verb	Object
Leila	wrote	the poem

• "Leila" is the subject, the doer or performer,
• "wrote" is a verb that refers to the action,
• "the poem" is the object involved in the action.

Transitive and intransitive verbs

A verb can be classified as transitive or intransitive according to whether it takes or doesn't take an object:

• If a verb takes objects, then it is a transitive verb.
  Example:
  They played soccer. → (The verb play takes ONE object 'soccer')
  They sent him a postcard. → (The verb send takes TWO objects 'him' and 'a postcard')
• If a verb doesn't take an object, then it is an intransitive verb.
  Example:
  She lies. → (The verb 'lie' doesn't take any object)
  The building collapsed. → (The verb 'collapse' doesn't take any object)

Types of objects

There are two types of objects: direct and indirect objects:

Direct object

A direct object answers the question "what?" or "whom?"
Examples:

• David repaired his car → his car is the direct object of the verb repaired. ( What did David repair?)
• He invited Mary to the party → Mary is the direct object of the verb invited. (Whom did he invite?)

Indirect Object

An indirect object answers the question "to whom?", "for whom?", "for what?"...
An indirect object is the recipient of the direct object, or an otherwise affected participant in the event. There must be a direct object for an indirect object to be placed in a sentence. In other words an indirect object cannot exist without a direct object.
Examples:

• They sent him a postcard - him is the indirect object of the verb sent. (To whom did they send a postcard?)
• He bought his son a bike - his son is the indirect object of the verb bought. (For whom did he buy a bike?)

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Predicate

Predicate

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What is a predicate?

In traditional grammar, a sentence consists of two parts:

• a subject,
• a predicate which modifies the subject.

consider the following sentence:

• Bill likes soccer.

Bill is the subject and likes soccer acts as the predicate (a subsequent description of the subject which is headed with the verb likes.)
Predicates provide information about the subject, such as what the subject is doing or what the subject is like. It must contain a verb but may also contain other sentence elements. These elements may be objects (direct and indirect objects), adverbials...

Examples of predicates

• He laughs. (Predicate containing only a verb)
• She writes poems. (Direct object)
• They gave me a gift . (Indirect object and a direct object)
• He saw her in the hospital . (Adverbial)

When the subject and the predicate are connected with a linking verb, the predicate is either nominal, adjectival or adverbial complement:

Nominal predicates:

• He is the president.
• These are the candidates.

Adjectival predicates:

• She is beautiful.
• They are careless.

Adverbial complement:

• He is in the kitchen.
• We are in the house.

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