transition words & phrases

1/27/2016 TransitionWords&Phrases

http://www.smartwords.org/linkingwords/transitionwords.html 1/4

TransitionWordsandPhrases

This structured list of commonly used English transition words approximately 200, can be considered as quasi complete. It can be used (bystudentsandteachersalike)tofindtherightexpression.Englishtransitionwordsareessential,sincetheynotonlyconnectideas,butalsocanintroduceacertainshift,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 onecategory.There is some overlapping with preposition and postposition, but for the purpose of clarity and completeness of this concise guide, I did notdifferentiate.

A G R E E M E N T / A D D I T I O N / S I M I L A R I T Y

Thetransitionwordslikealso,inaddition,and,likewise,addinformation,reinforceideas,andexpressagreementwithprecedingmaterial.

O P P O S I T I O N / L I M I T A T I O N / C O N T R A D I C T I O N

Transitionphraseslikebut,ratherandor,expressthatthereisevidencetothecontraryorpointoutalternatives,andthusintroduceachangethelineofreasoning(contrast).

C A U S E / C O N D I T I O N / P U R P O S E

Thesetransitionalphrasespresentspecificconditionsorintentions.

TransitionWordsLinking&ConnectingWordsPart1/2

inthefirstplace

notonly...butalsoasamatteroffact

inlikemannerinaddition

coupledwith

inthesamefashion/wayfirst,second,third

inthelightof

nottomentiontosaynothingof

equallyimportant

bythesametoken

again

toand

alsothen

equally

identicallyuniquely

like

astoo

moreover

aswellastogetherwith

ofcourselikewise

comparatively

correspondinglysimilarly

furthermore

additionally

althoughthismaybetrueincontrast

differentfrom

ofcourse...,butontheotherhand

onthecontrary

atthesametimeinspiteof

evenso/though

bethatasitmaythenagain

aboveallinreality

afterall

but(and)still

unlike

or(and)yet

while

albeitbesides

asmuchas

eventhough

althoughinstead

whereas

despiteconversely

otherwise

howeverrather

nevertheless

nonethelessregardless

notwithstanding

intheeventthat

granted(that)

as/solongason(the)condition(that)

forthepurposeof

If

...then

unless

when

incase

providedthat

giventhatonly/evenif

sothat



E X A M P L E S / S U P P O R T / E M P H A S I S

Thesetransitionaldevices(likeespecially)areusedtointroduceexamplesassupport,toindicateimportanceorasanillustrationsothatanideaiscuedtothereader.

E F F E C T / C O N S E Q U E N C E / R E S U L T

Someofthesetransitionwords(thus,then,accordingly,consequently,therefore,henceforth)aretimewordsthatareusedtoshowthatafteraparticulartimetherewasaconsequenceoraneffect.

Notethatforandbecauseareplacedbeforethecause/reason.Theotherdevicesareplacedbeforetheconsequencesoreffects.

C O N C L U S I O N / S U M M A R Y / R E S T A T E M E N T

Thesetransitionwordsandphrasesconclude,summarizeand/orrestateideas,orindicateafinalgeneralstatement.Alsosomewords(liketherefore)fromtheEffect/Consequencecategorycanbeusedtosummarize.

withthisintention

withthisinmindinthehopethat

totheendthat

forfearthatinorderto

seeing/beingthatinviewof

whenever

while

becauseof

assince

whilelest

soasto

owingtoinasmuchas

dueto

inotherwords

toputitdifferentlyforonething

asanillustration

inthiscaseforthisreason

toputitanotherwaythatistosay

withattentionto

byallmeans

importanttorealize

anotherkeypoint

firstthingtoremembermostcompellingevidence

mustberememberedpointoftenoverlooked

topointout

onthepositivesideonthenegativeside

withthisinmind

notably

includinglike

tobesure

namelychiefly

trulyindeed

certainly

surelymarkedly

suchas

especially

explicitly

specificallyexpressly

surprisinglyfrequently

significantly

particularly

infact

ingeneralinparticular

indetail

forexampleforinstance

todemonstratetoemphasize

torepeat

toclarifytoexplain

toenumerate

asaresult

underthosecircumstancesinthatcase

forthisreason

ineffect

for

thusbecausethe

then

hence

consequently

thereforethereupon

forthwith

accordinglyhenceforth

ascanbeseen

generallyspeaking

afterall

infact

byandlarge

tosumup



T I M E / C H R O N O L O G Y / S E Q U E N C E

Thesetransitionalwords(likefinally)havethefunctionoflimiting,restricting,anddefiningtime.Theycanbeusedeitheraloneoraspartofadverbialexpressions.

Manytransitionwordsinthetimecategory(consequentlyfirst,second,thirdfurtherhencehenceforthsincethen,whenandwhenever)haveotheruses.

Exceptforthenumbers(first,second,third)andfurthertheyaddameaningoftimeinexpressingconditions,qualifications,orreasons.Thenumbersarealsousedtoaddinformationorlistexamples.Furtherisalsousedtoindicateaddedspaceaswellasaddedtime.

S P A C E / L O C A T I O N / P L A C E

Thesetransitionwordsareoftenusedaspartofadverbialexpressionsandhavethefunctiontorestrict,limitorqualifyspace.QuiteafewofthesearealsofoundintheTimecategoryandcanbeusedtodescribespatialorderorspatialreference.

inthefinalanalysis

allthingsconsideredasshownabove

inthelongrun

giventhesepointsashasbeennoted

inawordforthemostpart

insummary

inconclusioninshort

inbrief

inessencetosummarize

onbalancealtogether

overall

ordinarilyusually

onthewhole

inanyeventineithercase

allinall

Obviously

UltimatelyDefinitely

atthepresenttime

fromtimetotimesoonerorlater

atthesametimeuptothepresenttime

tobeginwith

induetimeassoonas

aslongas

inthemeantimeinamoment

withoutdelay

inthefirstplaceallofasudden

atthisinstantfirst,second

immediatelyquickly

finally

after

laterlast

untiltill

since

thenbefore

hence

sincewhen

once

aboutnext

now

formerlysuddenly

shortly

henceforth

whenevereventually

meanwhilefurther

during

intimepriorto

forthwith

straightaway

bythetime

whenever

untilnownowthat

instantlypresently

occasionally

inthemiddle

totheleft/right

infrontofonthisside

inthedistancehereandthere

intheforeground

inthebackgroundinthecenterof

adjacentto

here

there

nextwhere

fromover

near

abovebelow

down

up

further

beyond

nearbywherever

aroundbetween

before

alongsideamid

among

beneath



ListofTransitionWords

TransitionWordsarealsosometimescalled(orputinthecategoryof)ConnectingWords.Pleasefeelfreetodownloadthemviathislinktothecategorypage:LinkingWords&ConnectingWordsasaPDF.

Itcontainsallthetransitionwordslistedonthissite.Theimagetotheleftgivesyouanimpressionhowitlookslike.

UsageofTransitionWordsinEssays

Transitionwordsandphrasesarevitaldevicesforessays,papersorotherliterarycompositions.Theyimprovetheconnectionsandtransitionsbetweensentencesandparagraphs.Theythusgivethetextalogicalorganizationandstructure(seealso:aListofSynonyms).

AllEnglishtransitionwordsandphrases(sometimesalsocalled'conjunctiveadverbs')dothesameworkascoordinatingconjunctions:theyconnecttwowords,phrasesorclausestogetherandthusthetextiseasiertoreadandthecoherenceisimproved.

Usage:transitionwordsareusedwithaspecialruleforpunctuation:asemicolonoraperiodisusedafterthefirst'sentence',andacommaisalmostalwaysusedtosetoffthetransitionwordfromthesecond'sentence'.

Example1:Peopleuse43muscleswhentheyfrownhowever,theyuseonly28muscleswhentheysmile.

Example2:However,transitionwordscanalsobeplacedatthebeginningofanewparagraphorsentencenotonlytoindicateastepforwardinthereasoning,butalsotorelatethenewmaterialtotheprecedingthoughts.

Useasemicolontoconnectsentences,onlyifthegroupofwordsoneithersideofthesemicolonisacompletesentenceeach(bothmusthaveasubjectandaverb,andcouldthusstandaloneasacompletethought).

Furtherhelpfulreadingsaboutexpressions,writingandgrammar:CompilationofWritingTipsHowtowritegoodListoftheirhiddenmeaningsScientificPhrasesCorrectSpellingStudybyanEnglishUniversity

AreyouusingWORDforwritingprofessionaltextsandessays?TherearemanyeasyWindowsShortcutsavailablewhichwork(almost)systemwide.

oppositeto under beside

behindacross

transition words & phrases

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