Adverbs of Purpose

Concept sheet | English Language Arts
Table of contents
Definition

An adverb of purpose explains why something happened.

Examples

Here are some examples of adverbs of purpose:

because

in order to

since

so

so that

thus

Woman jogging.
Woman waiting for her arm to heal.
Tip

Adverbs of purpose are usually placed after the main verb. They can be used before the main verb for emphasis on the result. The placement of the adverb does not affect the general meaning of the sentence.

 

For example:

Adverb example

Function

Margaret hurried up in order to be on time.

Placing the adverb after simply states why she hurried up.

She changed the title of her new book at the last minute, thus creating chaos with her editor.

Placing the adverb before focuses on the result of the action of changing the title of her new book.

The Real-Life Margaret