Linking words and phrases of purpose – so that, so as to, in order that

Linking words and phrases of purpose – so that, so as to, in order that  

In this English lesson you will learn how we use linking words and phrases of purpose, for example so that, in order that, so as to, lest, fo fear of, and others.

We use these linking words and phrases to join sentences together. Let’s look at some examples.

So that, in order that (formal)

• She is learning French so that she speak to her mother in law.
• I left a note so that Peter would know where we were.
• We moved out early in order that the owners could clean the house.

We are using these linking words and phrases to show purpose. The purpose of her learning French was to be able to speak to her mother-in-law.

In order to, so as to (formal)

• I went to school in order to finish my homework.
• They crept about the house so as not to wake the baby.

The purpose of him going to school early was to finish his homework.

Lest = so that…not

• I closed the gate lest the dog should escape.
• He filled up the car lest he ran out of petrol.

In other words, he filled up the car so that he didn’t run out of petrol

For fear of (that)

• I didn’t tell her the bad news for fear of upsetting her.
• He handles his phone with care for fear that it will break.

He doesn’t want to damage his phone so he handles it with care.

So that is how we use linking words and phrases of purpose to show why you do things and the purpose behind them.

Use them when you write and speak English to improve your fluency and confidence with the language.

Here is another lesson on linking words that you can also watch.

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