What is a Result Clause?

What are result clauses in English grammar?

In English grammar, result clauses are subordinate clauses that show the result of an action or situation. They help answer the question of why something happened.

Result clauses are introduced by a variety of conjunctions, such as:

• so;
• so that;
• such that.

Examples of Result Clauses

You can use a result clause to explain what happened due to the independent clause.

Here are a few examples.

Using ‘so’ as the conjunction

• There was a power cut, so we had to light a few candles.
• My friend loves comic books, so I bought her one for her birthday.
• The dog jumped into a muddy puddle, so we had to bathe him.
• It started raining, so we ran back inside for an umbrella.
• There’s not much time left, so we had better hurry.

Using ‘so… that’ as the conjunction

• There are so many languages to learn that I don’t know where to start.
• There are so many ways that you can answer that question.
• There are so many recipes that you can try out over the holidays.
• There were so few people queueing up that you could slip right through.
• There are so few hours in the day that I can’t do everything I want to do.

When you use the ‘so… that’ conjunction, the word following ‘so’ should be ‘many’ or ‘few,’ depending on the sentence.

Using ‘such… that’ as the conjunction

• The present was such a surprise that she gasped.
• The flood caused such panic that everyone had to evacuate.
• The girl was in such a frenzy that it was hard to calm her down.
• There was so much to learn that he wasn’t sure if he could do it all.
• It was such a puzzling situation that she was confused about what to do next.

When you use the ‘such… that’ conjunction, the following word should be a noun or phrase introduced by ‘a.

How else can you write result clauses in English grammar?

Another common way to write results clauses in English grammar is to use the phrases ‘as a result or ‘with the result that.’

• I practiced for a few extra hours, and as a result, I felt much more prepared.
• I practiced for a few extra hours and felt much more prepared.

It would help if you used a coordinating conjunction to connect the two clauses when using as a result. For example, if you combine them with a comma and not with a meeting, you create a comma splice.

This is because clauses starting with ‘as a result can also act as an independent clause. So, you could even start a new sentence using this phrase. For example:

• I practiced for a few extra hours. As a result, I felt much more prepared.

You can also use the informal version of ‘as a result: simply ‘resulting.’

• I practiced for a few extra hours, making me feel more prepared.

However, we must alter the rest of the clause to make sense.

Plus, the clause beginning with ‘resulting’ is not independent, so it should be connected to the independent clause with a comma.

Which one you choose is up to you!

Using ‘therefore,’ ‘thus,’ ‘consequently,’ etc

There are even more words and phrases that you can use to write a result clause in English grammar! These include:

• therefore;
• thus;
• consequently;
• in consequence;
• for this/that reason.

These words and phrases are considered formal and used in legal writing much more commonly than speech. However, it’s still important for children to learn and be aware of them.

They follow the same pattern as the previous result clauses when used in a sentence.