♔ LINKING WORDS

Linking words and phrases are used to show relationships between ideas. They can be used to join 2 or more sentences or clauses (a clause is a group of words which contains a subject and a verb). Sentences can be joined using conjunctions which introduce clauses such as time, reason, purpose, condition and contrast.

You can print off this page to keep as a reference of useful linking words and phrases.

You'll find below a list of words and phrases that can be used. The list is not exhaustive, and BE CAREFUL: although grouped together, none is totally synonymous. Their position in the sentence can also vary; this is where your reading and dictionary come in.

ADDITION	CONTRAST	COMPARISON	RESULT	CONCESSION	TIME	EXAMPLE	ENUMERATION	SUMMARY
again	after all	correspondingly	accordingly	after all	after a short time	as follows	first	in brief
also	although true	equally	consequently	although true	after a while	for example	second	in conclusion
and	but	in a like manner	hense	and yet	afterward	for instance	third	in a nutshell
and then	despite (+ noun)	in the same way	then	at the same time	at last	incidentally	finally	in short
besides	for all that	likewise	therefore	granted	at length	indeed	then	on the whole
equally important	however	similarly	thus	naturally	hereupon (formal)	in fact	last	overall
further	in contrast	also	as a result	of course	lately	in other words	next	therefore
furthermore	in spite of (+ noun)	like	thereby (+ ing)	even though	presently	in particular	among	to conclude
in addition	nevertheless	just as	so	still	recently	namely	other	to summarize
likewise	notwithstanding	just like	because of this/that	perhaps	shortly	particularly	firstly	tu sum up
moreover	on the contrary		in that case	however	since then	specifically	secondly
too	on the other hand		under these circumstances	nevertheless	temporarily	that is	thirdly
	still				then
	yet				thereafter (formal)
	instead

These words help a written piece to flow more smoothly. Let's take a look at an example. You will be able to see how they work. The first example is lacking a transition word, and the second example has one.

Amanda spent a long day working at the school and cooking dinner for her family. She decided to have a large cup of coffee.

Amanda spent a long day working at the school and then cooking dinner for her family. Therefore, she decided to have a large cup of coffee.