
If they are not presented well, though, your essay will fall flat and your reader will not be convinced. You may have done great research and you may have great arguments in favor of our position. Whatever your topic and whatever your position, you must organize an essay that flows logically from one point to the next. Perhaps you want to convince someone that the proposed Canadian pipeline or fracking poses dangers to our environment maybe you believe that there is too much money spent on political campaigns. Thus, you may want to convince an audience that animal testing is immoral or that genetically modified foods are harmful. Who refer to transitions as signal words.Persuasive essays are those in which you must convince a reader that your position on an issue is the correct one. With reference to using transitionsĮffectively in writing (and also as a guide to reading with comprehensionĪnd critically), there are some authors (i.e., Langan, Donnelly, Neeld, et al) Reader the relationship among the sences and paragraphs is logical Īnd your ideas flow smoothly from one sentence and paragraph to the next.Īs one of the devices to achieve coherence, transitional words and phrasesĪre a most important writing tool. Thesis statement) yet still lack coherence (sounding mechanical and stiff).Ĭoherence is achieved when the sentences in your paragraphs areĪrranged in an order that makes your ideas clear and sensible to the

That your paragraphs can be unified (stick to the topic sentence and the Writing that is logical and easy to follow) in one's writing. Phrases is well on the way to achieving coherence (a smooth flow in the The student writer who masters the usage of transitional words and Transitional words and phrases one finds in daily speech: The following is a brief listing of commonly used Next sentence or paragraph) or to go backward (to refer to something that They can be used to go forward (on to the Remember that transitions are like bridges. Language that we use, but they represent a good sampling of those most These are not all of the transitional words and phrases in the English In the same way, nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand,Īccordingly, as a result, consequently, for that reason, hence, then,Ībove all, especially, indeed, in fact, most important.Īs has been noted, finally, in brief, in other words, in short, on the In addition to, last, likewise, more, moreover, next, similarly, too.įor example, for instance, in other words, in particular, namely, specifically, such as, that is, thus, to illustrate.īut, even so, conversely, differently, however, in contrast, in spite of, Meanwhile, next, never, now, often, once, promptly, sometimes, soon.Ībove, among, around, at this point, behind, below, beside, beyond, down,įorward, from, here, in front of, inside, nearby, next to, on, on the otherĪgain, also, and, as well as, besides, for one thing, further, furthermore, There are eight ( 8)Īfter, afterward, always, as soon as, at last, at once, briefly, eventually,įinally, immediately, in the meantime, in the past (or future), last, later, Kind of relationship you as a writer are trying to show. Words and phrases can be divided into categories according to the Smoothly and logically so that your paragraphs have coherence. They are very important in linking your ideas together


Although transitional words and phrases mean little by themselves, Of a sentence, between the sentences in a paragraph, or between the paragraphs in a longer piece of writing (i.e., an essay, short story, novel, magazine article, etcetera). Transitional words and phrases show the relationships between the parts Transitional Words and Phrases Transitional Words and Phrases
