causally
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adverb:
- In a manner relating to or expressing cause and effect: Describes an action or relationship that operates through or involves causation.
- In a way that is connected as a cause to an effect: Indicates that something is being considered or described in terms of its role as a cause.
Usage Examples
- Adverb:
- The two events are not causally linked. (The events are not connected in a cause-and-effect manner.)
- Scientists study how these variables interact causally. (Scientists study how these variables interact as causes and effects.)
- He argued that the policy was causally responsible for the economic shift. (He argued the policy was the direct cause of the economic shift.)
Advanced Usage
- Philosophical/Scientific Context: Used to describe the fundamental relationship between events or states.
- The study aims to determine whether poverty is causally related to health outcomes. (The study aims to find out if poverty is a direct cause of specific health results.)
- "Causally efficacious": Having the power to produce an effect. This is a common collocation in academic writing.
- The theory examines which mental states are causally efficacious. (The theory examines which mental states have real power to cause changes.)
Variants and Related Words
- Causal (adjective): Relating to or acting as a cause.
- There is a causal relationship between smoking and lung disease.
- Causation (noun): The action of causing something; the relationship between cause and effect.
- The lawyer debated the issue of causation in the accident.
- Cause (noun/verb): The person or thing that gives rise to an action / To make something happen.
- The cause of the fire was electrical. / The news caused great concern.
Synonyms
- As a cause: In a causative manner.
- Determinatively: In a way that determines an outcome (more specific).
Notes on Meaning
- Key Distinction: "Causally" describes the of a relationship or connection. It is not the same as "because," which is a conjunction introducing a reason.
- Correct: We analyzed the data causally. (We analyzed it in terms of cause/effect.)
- Incorrect/Different: We stayed home causally it rained. (This misuses the adverb. The correct word is "because.")
Adverb
- in a causal fashion
- causally efficacious powers