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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

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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

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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

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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.

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