Result in means cause or lead to: the scheduling error resulted in two teams arriving at the same time. The cause comes first, the result after in. The result can be good too: the redesigned form resulted in fewer incomplete applications. It suits reports and essays and sounds a little more formal than lead to.
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cause + result in + outcome; result in + noun / -ing
- The scheduling error resulted in two teams arriving at the same time.
- The redesigned form resulted in fewer incomplete applications.
- The outage resulted in the workshop being postponed.
What changed
First versionThe broken printer was resulted in a delay.
RevisionThe broken printer resulted in a delay.
Was caused by is passive, and that pattern makes was resulted in feel right. But result in is always active: the printer itself caused the delay. The correct form is the broken printer resulted in a delay.
Result from is the reverse order, result first and cause second: the delay resulted from a broken printer. As a result links two sentences: the printer broke. As a result, we were late. Lead to is a near synonym of result in and a bit more informal.
Your turn
The missing document resulted ___ the application being returned.
Show the answer
in — The missing document is the cause, the returned application is the result. Cause first means result in. With from, the cause would come after the preposition.
Describe what one mistake or one good idea at work or in your studies resulted in.
The clearer signs resulted in fewer visitors asking for directions.
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