Advanced Portuguese Connectors for Expressing Results

At its core, this grammar is about cause and effect. You have an action (the cause) and a result that follows. In basic Portuguese, we use então. In advanced Portuguese, we use a variety of phrases that signal the relationship between these two parts more clearly. Most of these connectors act as transitions between two independent clauses. You usually place them after a comma or a semicolon. Some, like tão... que, wrap around an adjective to show intensity. The magic happens in the nuance. Some connectors imply a logical necessity, while others suggest a natural consequence or even a desired goal. It is like a grammar traffic light guiding your reader through your logic.

1. 1Using these connectors usually follows a simple three-step rhythm:
2. 2State the initial fact or cause: A empresa perdeu lucros (The company lost profits).
3. 3Insert your connector with proper punctuation: , por conseguinte, (consequently).
4. 4State the result: precisou cortar gastos (it needed to cut costs).
5. 5For the "Intensity" pattern (tão/tanto... que):
6. 6Use tão before an adjective or tanto before a noun.
7. 7Add the adjective or noun.
8. 8Follow with que and the result: Ele falou tão bem que todos aplaudiram (He spoke so well that everyone cheered).

You should reach for these connectors in any formal or semi-formal setting. If you are writing a cover letter for a job in Brazil, use em vista disso to link your skills to the company's needs. In a university essay, por conseguinte is your best friend for concluding a paragraph. Even in a serious conversation with a landlord about a broken pipe, saying de modo que makes you sound more persuasive and serious. It shows you have a high level of "linguistic maturity." Use them when you want to sound authoritative, logical, and organized. Yes, even native speakers mess this up sometimes, so using them correctly actually makes you stand out in a good way.

Avoid these like the plague in very casual settings. If you are at a bar with friends and say, "I am hungry; por conseguinte, I shall order a coxinha," your friends will probably think you've spent too much time reading 19th-century literature. It feels stiff and robotic in text messages or casual chats. Also, don't overstuff a single paragraph with them. If every sentence starts with consequentemente, your writing will feel heavy and hard to breathe through. It’s like salt—essential for flavor, but too much ruins the dish.

The most common trip-wire is the mood of the verb after de modo que or de forma que. If the result is a guaranteed fact that already happened, use the Indicative: Estudei muito, de modo que passei (I studied a lot, so I passed). If the result is a goal or something intended but not yet realized, use the Subjunctive: Estudei muito de modo que passasse (I studied a lot so that I might pass). Another classic mistake is forgetting the commas. Most of these connectors are "parenthetical," meaning they need to be hugged by commas if they are in the middle of a sentence. Also, watch out for pelo que. It is very common in Portugal but less so in casual Brazilian speech, where it can sound a bit overly formal or even slightly archaic if used wrong.

Don't confuse result connectors with causal connectors. Porque (because) tells us the reason *before* the action. Portanto (therefore) tells us the result *after* the action. It sounds simple, but in the heat of a C1 exam, students often flip them. Also, distinguish between então and portanto. While both mean "so/therefore," então is the "Swiss Army knife"—it’s used for everything from starting a sentence to filling a gap. Portanto is a specialized tool for logical conclusions. Think of então as your sneakers and portanto as your polished dress shoes.