Cause, reason, purpose, result expressions

(from English vocabulary in use)

Cause

The rise in prices sparked off a lot of political protest. (often used for very strong, perhaps violent, reactions to events)

The President’s statement gave rise to/ provoked/ generated a lot of criticism. (slightly less strong than spark off)

The new law has brought about/ led to great changes in education. (often used for political/social change)

This problem stems from the inflation of recent years. (explaining the direct origins of events and states)

The court-case arose out of allegations made in a newspaper. (the allegations started the court-case)

Reason for and purpose of doing things

Her reason for not going with us was that she had no money.

I wonder what his motives were in sending that letter. (purpose)

I wonder what prompted him to send that letter. (reason/ cause)

She wrote to the press with the aim of exposing the scandal. (purpose)

I have invited you here with a view to resolving our differences. (sounds a bit more indirect than with the aim of)

He refused to answer on the grounds that his lawyer was not there. (reason)

The purpose of her visit was to inspect the equipment.

Results

He did no work. As a result/ As a consequence/ Consequently, he failed his exams.

The result/ consequence of all these changes is that no one is happy any more.

His remarks resulted in everyone getting angry.

The events had an outcome that no one could have predicted. (result of a process or events, or of meetings, discussions, etc.)

The upshot of all these problems was that we had to start again. (less formal than outcome)

When the election results were announced, chaos ensued. (formal)