student asking question

What's the main difference between "result" and "consequence"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

These two are very similar in meaning! However, the situations in which they are usually used do differ. "Result" and "consequence" both refer to the end, final product, or result of an action or condition, but "consequence" is usually only used in the negative sense. Ex: There will be consequences to your actions. (Negative) Ex: There will be negative results due to your actions. (Only is negative because the adjective "negative" is used here.) Ex: The results of our experiment were great. Ex: The consequence of waking up late was that we missed our flight.

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