Subordinate Clauses: Purpose Clause

The "purpose clause" is used to show the purpose or intention of the action of the main clause. It answers the question "Why?" or "For what reason?".

The purpose conjunctions are:

• in order that
• in order to
• to + verb
• so as to
• so that

Examples:

• In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed.
• He’s staying on in Australia for nine more months in order to perfect his English.
• I talked to them both for half an hour so as to have a thorough understanding of the problem.
• I stopped by at the supermarket to buy some apples on the way home.
• We study Latin so that we may learn more about ancient Rome.

Some observations:

1. The conjunctions "so that" or "in order that" usually contain a modal. We also use them when the subject of the purpose clause is not the same of the main clause.
2. The conjunction "in order to" and "so as to" are often used in a formal writing.
3. Finally, note that, if we are talking about the purpose of an object , we normally use the "for + verb-ing". Example: This kitchen knife is especially useful for slicing vegetables. "for slicing vegetables" is not a clause, but a prepositional phrase.