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TransitionWords&Phrases
TransitionWords
Linking&ConnectingWordsPart1/2
TransitionWordsandPhrases
This structured list of commonly used English transition words approximately 200, can be considered as quasi complete. It can be used (by
studentsandteachersalike)tofindtherightexpression.Englishtransitionwordsareessential,sincetheynotonlyconnectideas,butalsocanintroduce
acertainshift,contrastoropposition,emphasisoragreement,purpose,resultorconclusion,etc.inthelineofargument.
The transition words and phrases have been assigned only once to somewhat artificial categories, although some words belong to more than one
category.
There is some overlapping with preposition and postposition, but for the purpose of clarity and completeness of this concise guide, I did not
differentiate.
AG
R E E ME N T
/ADDITION/SIMILA
R I TY
Thetransitionwordslikealso,inaddition,and,likewise,addinformation,reinforceideas,andexpressagreementwithpreceding
material.
inthefirstplace
again
moreover
notonly...butalso
to
aswellas
asamatteroffact
and
togetherwith
inlikemanner
also
ofcourse
inaddition
then
likewise
coupledwith
equally
comparatively
inthesamefashion/way
identically
correspondingly
first,second,third
uniquely
similarly
inthelightof
like
furthermore
nottomention
as
additionally
tosaynothingof
too
equallyimportant
bythesametoken
OPPOS
I TI O N
/LIMITA
TI O N
/CONTR
A D I C TI O N
Transitionphraseslikebut,ratherandor,expressthatthereisevidencetothecontraryorpointoutalternatives,andthusintroduceachange
thelineofreasoning(contrast).
althoughthismaybetrue
but
although
incontrast
(and)still
instead
differentfrom
unlike
whereas
ofcourse...,but
or
despite
ontheotherhand
(and)yet
conversely
onthecontrary
while
otherwise
atthesametime
albeit
however
inspiteof
besides
rather
evenso/though
asmuchas
nevertheless
bethatasitmay
eventhough
nonetheless
thenagain
regardless
aboveall
notwithstanding
inreality
afterall
CA
U S E
/CONDITION/P
U R P O S E
Thesetransitionalphrasespresentspecificconditionsorintentions.
intheeventthat
If
incase
granted(that)
...then
providedthat
as/solongas
unless
giventhat
on(the)condition(that)
only/evenif
forthepurposeof
when
sothat
http://www.smartwords.org/linkingwords/transitionwords.html
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TransitionWords&Phrases
withthisintention
whenever
soasto
withthisinmind
while
owingto
inthehopethat
inasmuchas
totheendthat
becauseof
dueto
forfearthat
as
inorderto
since
seeing/beingthat
while
inviewof
lest
XA MP L E S
/SU
P P O R T
/E
MP H A S I S
Thesetransitionaldevices(likeespecially)areusedtointroduceexamplesassupport,toindicateimportanceorasanillustrationsothatan
ideaiscuedtothereader.
inotherwords
notably
infact
toputitdifferently
including
ingeneral
foronething
like
inparticular
asanillustration
tobesure
indetail
inthiscase
namely
forexample
forthisreason
chiefly
forinstance
toputitanotherway
truly
todemonstrate
thatistosay
indeed
toemphasize
withattentionto
certainly
torepeat
byallmeans
surely
toclarify
markedly
toexplain
suchas
toenumerate
importanttorealize
especially
anotherkeypoint
explicitly
firstthingtoremember
specifically
mostcompellingevidence
expressly
mustberemembered
surprisingly
pointoftenoverlooked
frequently
topointout
significantly
onthepositiveside
particularly
onthenegativeside
withthisinmind
F F E C T
/CONS
E Q U E N C E
/RE
S U L T
Someofthesetransitionwords(thus,then,accordingly,consequently,therefore,henceforth)aretimewordsthatareusedtoshowthat
afteraparticulartimetherewasaconsequenceoraneffect.
Notethatforandbecauseareplacedbeforethecause/reason.Theotherdevicesareplacedbeforetheconsequencesoreffects.
asaresult
for
consequently
underthose
circumstances
thus
therefore
becausethe
thereupon
then
forthwith
hence
accordingly
inthatcase
forthisreason
ineffect
henceforth
CONC
L U S I O N
/SU
MMA R Y
/RE
S TA TE ME N T
Thesetransitionwordsandphrasesconclude,summarizeand/orrestateideas,orindicateafinalgeneralstatement.Alsosomewords(like
therefore)fromtheEffect/Consequencecategorycanbeusedtosummarize.
ascanbeseen
afterall
byandlarge
generallyspeaking
infact
tosumup
http://www.smartwords.org/linkingwords/transitionwords.html
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TransitionWords&Phrases
inthefinalanalysis
insummary
onthewhole
allthingsconsidered
inconclusion
inanyevent
asshownabove
inshort
ineithercase
inthelongrun
inbrief
allinall
giventhesepoints
inessence
ashasbeennoted
tosummarize
Obviously
inaword
onbalance
Ultimately
forthemostpart
altogether
Definitely
overall
ordinarily
usually
I ME
/CHR
O N O L O G Y
/SE
Q U E N C E
Thesetransitionalwords(likefinally)havethefunctionoflimiting,restricting,anddefiningtime.Theycanbeusedeitheraloneoraspartof
adverbialexpressions.
atthepresenttime
after
henceforth
fromtimetotime
later
whenever
soonerorlater
last
eventually
atthesametime
until
meanwhile
uptothepresenttime
till
further
tobeginwith
since
during
induetime
then
intime
assoonas
before
priorto
aslongas
hence
forthwith
inthemeantime
since
straightaway
inamoment
when
withoutdelay
once
bythetime
inthefirstplace
about
whenever
allofasudden
next
atthisinstant
now
untilnow
first,second
nowthat
immediately
formerly
instantly
quickly
suddenly
presently
finally
shortly
occasionally
Manytransitionwordsinthetimecategory(consequentlyfirst,second,thirdfurtherhencehenceforthsincethen,whenand
whenever)haveotheruses.
Exceptforthenumbers(first,second,third)andfurthertheyaddameaningoftimeinexpressingconditions,qualifications,orreasons.The
numbersarealsousedtoaddinformationorlistexamples.Furtherisalsousedtoindicateaddedspaceaswellasaddedtime.
SPA
C E
/LOC
A TI O N
/P
L A C E
Thesetransitionwordsareoftenusedaspartofadverbialexpressionsandhavethefunctiontorestrict,limitorqualifyspace.Quiteafewof
thesearealsofoundintheTimecategoryandcanbeusedtodescribespatialorderorspatialreference.
inthemiddle
here
further
totheleft/right
there
beyond
infrontof
next
nearby
onthisside
where
wherever
inthedistance
from
around
hereandthere
over
between
intheforeground
near
before
inthebackground
above
alongside
inthecenterof
below
amid
down
among
adjacentto
up
beneath
http://www.smartwords.org/linkingwords/transitionwords.html
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TransitionWords&Phrases
oppositeto
under
beside
behind
across
ListofTransitionWords
TransitionWordsarealsosometimescalled(orputinthecategoryof)ConnectingWords.Pleasefeelfreetodownloadthemviathislinktothe
categorypage:
LinkingWords&ConnectingWordsasaPDF.
Itcontainsallthetransitionwordslistedonthissite.Theimagetotheleftgivesyouanimpressionhowitlookslike.
UsageofTransitionWordsinEssays
Transitionwordsandphrasesarevitaldevicesforessays,papersorotherliterarycompositions.Theyimprovetheconnectionsandtransitions
betweensentencesandparagraphs.Theythusgivethetextalogicalorganizationandstructure(seealso:aListofSynonyms).
AllEnglishtransitionwordsandphrases(sometimesalsocalled'conjunctiveadverbs')dothesameworkascoordinatingconjunctions:they
connecttwowords,phrasesorclausestogetherandthusthetextiseasiertoreadandthecoherenceisimproved.
Usage:transitionwordsareusedwithaspecialruleforpunctuation:asemicolonoraperiodisusedafterthefirst'sentence',andacommais
almostalwaysusedtosetoffthetransitionwordfromthesecond'sentence'.
Example1:
Peopleuse43muscleswhentheyfrownhowever,theyuseonly28muscles
whentheysmile.
Example2:
However,transitionwordscanalsobeplacedatthebeginningofanew
paragraphorsentencenotonlytoindicateastepforwardinthereasoning,but
alsotorelatethenewmaterialtotheprecedingthoughts.
Useasemicolontoconnectsentences,onlyifthegroupofwordsoneithersideofthesemicolonisacompletesentenceeach(bothmusthavea
subjectandaverb,andcouldthusstandaloneasacompletethought).
Furtherhelpfulreadingsaboutexpressions,writingandgrammar:CompilationofWritingTipsHowtowritegoodListoftheirhidden
meaningsScientificPhrasesCorrectSpellingStudybyanEnglishUniversity
AreyouusingWORDforwritingprofessionaltextsandessays?TherearemanyeasyWindowsShortcutsavailablewhichwork(almost)
systemwide.
http://www.smartwords.org/linkingwords/transitionwords.html
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