Connectives of Time, Result and Reason

Connectives of time, result and reason

Connectives are words that join two or more ideas in the sentence. We can use connectives to indicate time, result and reason.

Connectives of time

We use the connectives when and while to show that an action happens at a specific point in time.

e.g. When I tripped, I dropped my PDA.

Angel was chatting online when we arrived.

We use while to talk about an action that happens over a period of time.

e.g. While Kevin was waiting for the bus, hw saw a poster for a computer fair.

My mobile phone ran out of battery while I was talking to a friend.

Connectives of result

We use the connectives so to show the result of an action, event or situation.

e.g. Lawrence forgot your phone number so he didn’t call you.

Tina doesn’t have a computer so she does her computer project at school.

Connectives of reason

We use the connectives as, because and since to show the reason for an action, event or situation.

e.g. I can’t read the instructions as they’re written in Japanese.

John bought a new PDA because he had lost his old one.

Since my dad sells mobile phones, he always get free mobile phones.

Exercise

Your cousins show you some descriptions of his pen friends around the world but some words are missing. Complete the descriptions with appropriate connectives of time, result and reason.

Robert is from America. He knows a lot about computers (1)______his parents are IT teachers. In fact, Robert designed his own website (2)______he was only nine years old! H likes to share his knowledge about computers with other teens (3)______he spends a lot of time chatting online.

Celine lives in Kenya, Africa. (4)______she doesn’t have a computer, Celine can’t surf the internet at home. However, (5)______she needs to do research online, she goes to her school and uses the computers there. The only problem is the lack of privacy – Celine likes to sing to herself (6)______she is surfing the Internet!

Xiao Lu’s home is in Harbin, China. He loves music (7)______his parents bought him an MP3 player last year. He often listens to music (8)______he is doing his homework. Xiao Lu can also play is own music practices the piano every day (9)______his greatest dream is to become a famous musician one day.

Answer:

1.  as / because / since

2.  when

3.  so

4.  As / Since

5.  when

6.  while

7.  so

8.  while

9.  as / because / since