5 exercises — choose the correct cause-and-effect connector (thereby, consequently, due to, because, which caused) for technical descriptions of system failures, deployments, and performance analysis.
0 / 20 completed
1 / 20
The connection pool was exhausted, ___ causing response times to spike to over 30 seconds.
"Thereby" means "by that means" or "as a result of that" — it introduces a participial phrase showing the means or consequence: "thereby causing response times to spike." Crucially, "thereby" must be followed by a gerund ("-ing" form), not a finite clause. "Therefore" introduces an independent clause: "...therefore, response times spiked." Both are formal, but "thereby + gerund" is more commonly used in technical descriptions of cause-and-effect chains. "Thus that" is not a standard connector. "However" shows contrast.
2 / 20
The cache was not invalidated after the schema change. ___, stale data was served to approximately 15% of users.
"Consequently" introduces a result or consequence that follows logically from the previous statement. It is a formal connector used in incident reports and technical analyses to link cause and effect across separate sentences. Other result connectors: "As a result," "Therefore," "Hence," "Thus." "Nevertheless" and "meanwhile" express contrast and simultaneous events respectively. "In addition" adds information. In postmortem writing: "The cache was not invalidated. Consequently, stale data was served."
3 / 20
___ the network partition, the consensus algorithm failed to reach quorum.
"Due to" is a prepositional phrase followed by a noun phrase: "due to the network partition." It cannot be followed by a clause. "Because" introduces a clause (subject + verb): "because the network partitioned." "Since that" is not a standard connector. "As a result" introduces a consequence clause, not a cause: "As a result, the algorithm failed" — you would use it the other way around. In formal technical writing, "due to" is preferred over "because of" for written documentation, though both are acceptable.
4 / 20
The server ran out of disk space, ___ the logging daemon crashed, ___ alerts stopped being sent.
"Which caused" introduces a non-defining relative clause that expresses a consequence. The pattern is common in technical incident reports for chaining effects: "X happened, which caused Y, which meant Z." Each "which" refers to the entire preceding event (the relative pronoun refers to the clause, not just the noun). "That" cannot be used in non-defining relative clauses. "Causing / meaning" (participle chains) are also grammatically possible: "The server ran out of disk space, causing the daemon to crash, meaning alerts stopped." But the relative clause chain is more formal.
5 / 20
The performance degraded ___ the new caching strategy was not yet optimised for high-concurrency reads.
"Because" introduces a subordinate clause (with a subject and verb) explaining a reason: "degraded because the new caching strategy was not optimised." "As a result," "consequently," and "thereby" all introduce effects/consequences, not causes. They come after the cause, not before the effect within a single sentence. Rule: cause connectors before a clause = "because," "since," "as," "given that." Effect connectors = "therefore," "consequently," "as a result," "hence," "thus." This distinction is essential for clear technical writing.
6 / 20
Sarah noticed a significant increase in error rates during the deployment of the new feature. The logs indicated a race condition within the payment processing service. Specifically, the concurrent requests were attempting to update the same database record simultaneously, leading to data corruption. Which connector best describes this situation?
This scenario demonstrates a classic 'cause and effect' relationship. The race condition (the cause) directly led to the application failing to process transactions correctly (the effect). Options A and C represent broader, less specific consequences, while option D misattributes the root cause.
7 / 20
David is drafting a pull request description for a recent refactoring of the user authentication module. He wants to clearly explain why he made the changes. The original implementation was prone to security vulnerabilities due to improper input validation. Which phrase accurately connects these two points?
This question tests understanding of cause and effect in a technical document. Option 2 correctly highlights the *result* (the audit) stemming from the *cause* (the vulnerability). Options A and C are overly optimistic or misrepresent the situation; option D is incorrect as it describes an alternative action.
8 / 20
Mark received a Slack message from his team lead regarding a recent API endpoint update. The message stated: 'The new version of the API now returns a 500 error when users attempt to create accounts with invalid email formats. Given this, we need to investigate why the validation logic wasn't implemented correctly in the first place.'. Which connector best fits within this sentence?
This tests understanding of cause and effect within a Slack communication. The phrase 'Given this' establishes a direct causal link – the 500 error (cause) necessitates an investigation into the validation logic (effect). Options A and D are irrelevant; option C is too vague.
9 / 20
Emily found a critical bug during code review. The application was intermittently failing to update inventory levels after an order was placed. After tracing the issue, she identified that the database transaction wasn't being properly rolled back in certain error scenarios. Which connector best represents this chain of events?
This question focuses on identifying the core cause and its direct impact. 'In effect' accurately captures that the missing rollback (cause) led to unpredictable application behavior (effect). Options A and B describe positive outcomes; option D misrepresents the problem's origin.
10 / 20
John was explaining a recent performance issue to stakeholders. He explained that the introduction of a new data aggregation service caused increased load on the database, leading to slow query times. The team had not optimized the queries for high concurrency. Because of this bottleneck, users experienced significant delays when accessing reports. Which connector best describes the relationship?
This scenario tests understanding of cause and effect in a business context. 'As a consequence' highlights that the unoptimized queries (cause) resulted in slow query times and user delays (effect). Options A and D misinterpret the problem's impact; option B is an incorrect outcome.
11 / 20
Sarah noticed a significant increase in error rates during the deployment of the new feature. The logs indicated a race condition within the payment processing service. Specifically, the concurrent requests were attempting to update the same database record simultaneously, leading to data corruption. Which connector best describes this situation?
This scenario demonstrates a classic 'cause and effect' relationship. The race condition (the cause) directly led to the application failing to process transactions correctly (the effect). Options A and C represent broader, less specific consequences, while option D misattributes the root cause.
12 / 20
David is drafting a pull request description for a recent refactoring of the user authentication module. He wants to clearly explain why he made the changes. The original implementation was prone to security vulnerabilities due to improper input validation. Which phrase accurately connects these two points?
This question tests understanding of cause and effect in a technical document. Option 2 correctly highlights the *result* (the audit) stemming from the *cause* (the vulnerability). Options A and C are overly optimistic or misrepresent the situation; option D is incorrect as it describes an alternative action.
13 / 20
Mark received a Slack message from his team lead regarding a recent API endpoint update. The message stated: 'The new version of the API now returns a 500 error when users attempt to create accounts with invalid email formats. Given this, we need to investigate why the validation logic wasn't implemented correctly in the first place.'. Which connector best fits within this sentence?
This tests understanding of cause and effect within a Slack communication. The phrase 'Given this' establishes a direct causal link – the 500 error (cause) necessitates an investigation into the validation logic (effect). Options A and D are irrelevant; option C is too vague.
14 / 20
Emily found a critical bug during code review. The application was intermittently failing to update inventory levels after an order was placed. After tracing the issue, she identified that the database transaction wasn't being properly rolled back in certain error scenarios. Which connector best represents this chain of events?
This question focuses on identifying the core cause and its direct impact. 'In effect' accurately captures that the missing rollback (cause) led to unpredictable application behavior (effect). Options A and B describe positive outcomes; option D misrepresents the problem's origin.
15 / 20
John was explaining a recent performance issue to stakeholders. He explained that the introduction of a new data aggregation service caused increased load on the database, leading to slow query times. The team had not optimized the queries for high concurrency. Because of this bottleneck, users experienced significant delays when accessing reports. Which connector best describes the relationship?
This scenario tests understanding of cause and effect in a business context. 'As a consequence' highlights that the unoptimized queries (cause) resulted in slow query times and user delays (effect). Options A and D misinterpret the problem's impact; option B is an incorrect outcome.
16 / 20
Sarah noticed a significant increase in error rates during the deployment of the new feature. The logs indicated a race condition within the payment processing service. Specifically, the concurrent requests were attempting to update the same database record simultaneously, leading to data corruption. Which connector best describes this situation?
This scenario demonstrates a classic 'cause and effect' relationship. The race condition (the cause) directly led to the application failing to process transactions correctly (the effect). Options A and C represent broader, less specific consequences, while option D misattributes the root cause.
17 / 20
David is drafting a pull request description for a recent refactoring of the user authentication module. He wants to clearly explain why he made the changes. The original implementation was prone to security vulnerabilities due to improper input validation. Which phrase accurately connects these two points?
This question tests understanding of cause and effect in a technical document. Option 2 correctly highlights the *result* (the audit) stemming from the *cause* (the vulnerability). Options A and C are overly optimistic or misrepresent the situation; option D is incorrect as it describes an alternative action.
18 / 20
Mark received a Slack message from his team lead regarding a recent API endpoint update. The message stated: 'The new version of the API now returns a 500 error when users attempt to create accounts with invalid email formats. Given this, we need to investigate why the validation logic wasn't implemented correctly in the first place.'. Which connector best fits within this sentence?
This tests understanding of cause and effect within a Slack communication. The phrase 'Given this' establishes a direct causal link – the 500 error (cause) necessitates an investigation into the validation logic (effect). Options A and D are irrelevant; option C is too vague.
19 / 20
Emily found a critical bug during code review. The application was intermittently failing to update inventory levels after an order was placed. After tracing the issue, she identified that the database transaction wasn't being properly rolled back in certain error scenarios. Which connector best represents this chain of events?
This question focuses on identifying the core cause and its direct impact. 'In effect' accurately captures that the missing rollback (cause) led to unpredictable application behavior (effect). Options A and B describe positive outcomes; option D misrepresents the problem's origin.
20 / 20
John was explaining a recent performance issue to stakeholders. He explained that the introduction of a new data aggregation service caused increased load on the database, leading to slow query times. The team had not optimized the queries for high concurrency. Because of this bottleneck, users experienced significant delays when accessing reports. Which connector best describes the relationship?
This scenario tests understanding of cause and effect in a business context. 'As a consequence' highlights that the unoptimized queries (cause) resulted in slow query times and user delays (effect). Options A and D misinterpret the problem's impact; option B is an incorrect outcome.
What will I practise in "Cause and Effect Connectors in Technical English — Grammar Exercises"?
Practise cause-and-effect connectors in technical English: thereby, consequently, due to, because, which caused.
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 20 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
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Where can I find more Grammar exercises?
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How is this different from reading an article on the same topic?
Articles explain grammar rules in prose; this exercise tests and reinforces those rules through active recall with immediate feedback — the two work best together.
Who writes these exercises?
Every exercise is written by the CoderSlingo team, drawing on real workplace English used in IT roles, then reviewed for accuracy and clarity.