ENGLISH
REFERENCE

caused by sth

prep. phr..
B1 Intermediate Oxford

prep. phr.. to happen because of something else. You use this to show the reason or the source of a problem or a situation.

prep. phr.. indicating a causal relationship where the preceding noun or clause is the effect and the following noun phrase is the agent or origin.


SIMPLE

The delay was caused by heavy rain.

CONTEXTUAL

Many health problems are caused by stress and a lack of sleep in the workplace.

COMPLEX

The widespread power outages were caused by a catastrophic failure in the regional grid during the peak of the winter storm.

Usage

usually follows a form of the verb 'to be' in a passive construction.

Teaching tip

use this to practice the passive voice; it is a more formal and precise alternative to 'because of' when identifying a specific agent.

Pitfall

The accident caused by the ice.The accident was caused by the ice.this phrase usually requires a 'to be' verb to link the subject to the cause in a complete sentence.

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