Monday, April 18, 2011

Thus, thereby, and therefore

There isn't a verdict out on what the proper uses are of these. However, I have tried to replace these words with certain phrases to see if they still make sense. Obviously, your context matters, but it seems "thereby" is the least preferred option of the three because it usually implies a process (time-dependent).

So try replacing
therefore with "for this/that",
thus with "consequently",
and
thereby with "by doing so"or "by this/that".

Does your sentence still make sense? If it does then you have a winner! If it does not, reword trying to not use thus, thereby, or therefore, which you should probably be trying to do anyways.

1 comment:

  1. Good explanation, though, "anyways" should be "anyway".

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