‘Hence‘ is and adverb and is quite a formal word. It is often used in essays and is generally used at the start of a sentence. It has two meanings. Firstly it can mean ‘because’ or ‘for this reason.’ This is the meaning that we see in essays. The second meaning is ‘from now.’ With this meaning it doesn’t come at the start of a sentence.

Examples:

• Public transport is excellent and there are many safe bike paths in this city. Hence car ownership is low.
• I’ll be on a plane travelling to Majorca ten days hence.

Collocations: When you learn new vocab, make sure that you note collocations too. For this group of words some collocations are:
error rate
ethnicity of, ethnic cleansing
goal oriented
get a grant, give a grant, receive a grant, grant for, granting body

Check the meanings of the words if you don’t already know them. Check the meanings of the various forms as sometimes they are different. You can check them at Time4english by clicking the words (http://www.time4english.com/aamain/lounge/awl.asp).

Complete the sentences below with the correct form of the word.

1. What are your _______________ for the rest of this year? (goal, ethnic)
2. Is it human or mechanical ______________ that is responsible for most aviation accidents?(hence, error)
3. He’ll be on leave for three months; _______________ we will need to replace him with a temp. (hence, goal)
4. A person’s _______________ can have a large influence on their life options. (grant, ethnic)
5. A lot of research relies on _______________from government and industry. (grant, error)

Answers (in the wrong order below)
3. hence   1. goals   4. ethnicity    2. error    5. grants