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Using Transitional Words

'First and Foremost, Transition Words Guide Readers Like Signs'

TRANSITION WORDS: Writers should use transitional words or phrases like road signs. Writing good connecting words helps to guide the reader through your essay.

Using transitional words and phrases clarifies the direction of thought. It often creates a powerful link between two separate ideas

A smooth and emphatic transition makes the passage easier to read and understand.

But, a word of caution. Overuse or misuse of transition words and phrases can destroy the logic in your article.

Many, if not all, of these linking terms have different connotations with variable meanings.

Most writers agree that the use of transitional words is a crucial part of literary structure. You should use them sparingly in your composition, but you should use them.

Short snippets of transition text improves the connection and organization between sentences and paragraphs.


Rules for Transition Words and Linking Phrases

Even though transitions connect relationships between written ideas. Creating that relationship is not necessarily automatic for your reader. Only use transitional words when there is enough context to clarify that alliance.


Transition Words Rules for Websites

All successful websites share some common parallels. Captivating and quality content with ease of reading ranks highly among those ideals. Adding transitional words and phrases to your content shows effective writing and grammatical professionalism. Using linking words in website development seamlessly joins your ideas with the written content.

Having explained the rules for using transition words in sentences, here are some examples. Teachers, students, and writers will find the expressions listed in artificial categories. Even so, it demonstrates how they introduce a shift, purpose, result, opposition, or contrast.

The list of linking words should help you understand their meanings before you set pen to paper and use them.


How to Use Transitional Words: List of Examples

Transition Words of Emphasis, Examples, Support

  • another key point, as an illustration, by all means, certainly, chiefly, especially, explicitly, expressly, first thing to remember, for example, for instance, for one thing, for this reason, frequently, important to realize, including, indeed, in detail, in fact, in general, in other words, in particular, in this case, like, markedly, most compelling evidence, must be remembered, namely, notably, on the negative side, on the positive side, particularly, point often overlooked, significantly, specifically, such as, surely, surprisingly, that is to say, to be sure, to clarify, to demonstrate, to emphasize, to enumerate, to explain, to point out, to put it another way, to put it differently, to repeat, truly, with attention to, with this in mind.

Transition Words of Addition, Agreement, Enumerate, Similarity

  • additionally, again, also, and, and also, another, as, as a matter of fact, as well, as well as, finally, by the same token, comparatively, correspondingly, coupled with, equally, equally important, first, second, third, first of all, furthermore, identically, in addition, in like manner, in the first place, in the light of, in the same fashion, in the same way, like, likewise, moreover, not only … but also, not to mention, of course, similarly, then, to, together with, too, to say nothing of, uniquely.

Transition Words of Comparison, Contradiction, Contrast, Limitation, Opposition

  • above all, after all, albeit, although, although this may be true, as much as, at the same time, besides, be that as it may, but, conversely, despite, different from, either, even so, even though, except, first and foremost, however, in contrast, in reality, in spite of, instead, less, much as, nevertheless, nonetheless, notwithstanding, of course, on the contrary, on the other hand, on the contrary, opposite, otherwise, rather, regardless, same, then again, unlike, whereas, while, yet.

Transition Words of a Cause, Concession, Condition, Purpose

  • admittedly, as long as, because of, being that, due to, even if, for fear that, for the purpose of, given that, granted (that), inasmuch as, in case, in order to, in the event that, in the hope that, in view that, lest, naturally, on (the) condition (that), of course, only if, owing to, provided that, seeing that, so as to, so long as, so that, to the end that, with this intention, with this in mind, unless.

Transition Words of Consequence, Effect, Result

  • accordingly, as a result, because the, consequently, due to, for, for example, for this reason, forthwith, henceforth, if one looks at, in effect, in that case, then, therefore, thereupon, thus, under those circumstances.

Transition Words of Conclusion, Example, Restatement, Summary

  • after all, all in all, all things considered, as, altogether, as can be seen by, as has been noticed, as shown above, by and large, definitely, for example, hence, for the most part, if one looks at, inasmuch as, in any event, in brief, in conclusion, in either case, in essence, in fact, in summary, in short, in the final analysis, in the long run, obviously, on balance, on the whole, ordinarily, overall, to illustrate, to summarize, to sum up, therefore, ultimately, usually.

Transition Words of Chronology, Sequence, Time

  • a/b/c, after, afterward, after that, all of a sudden, as, as long as, as soon as, at the present time, at the same time, at this instant, before, by the time, during, during that time, eventually, finally, first/second/third, finally, formerly, forthwith, from time to time, further, immediately, hence, henceforth, in a moment, in due time, instantly, in the first place, in the meantime, in time, last, lastly, later, meanwhile, next, now, now that, occasionally, once, presently, previously, prior to, quickly, shortly, since, sooner or later, straightaway, suddenly, until later, up to the present time, prior to, then, till, to begin with, until, until now, when, whenever, while, without delay.

Transition Words of Fuzzy Signals

  • about, all things considered, almost, generally speaking, maybe, probably, seems like.

Transition Words of Location, Place, Space

  • across, adjacent to, alongside, amid, among, around, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, down, from, further, here, here and there, in the middle in front of, in the distance, in the foreground, in the background, in the center of, near, nearby, next, on this side, opposite to, over, there, to the left/right, under, up, where, wherever.


ALSO IN THIS SECTION

Is Therefore a Transition Word?
It most certainly is a transition word; therefore, you should use it. Using ‘therefore’ as a transitional word most often leads to a result. The word ‘therefore’ shares a similar meaning of conclusion with other transitional text including; too, another, in addition to, besides, than, another, furthermore, for example, also, equally important, first, second, etc.

What is a Transitional Phrase?
Transitional phrases help carry a thought from one sentence through to another. Similarly, they transfer one paragraph to another, or one idea to another. Transitional devices relate sentences or paragraphs together. They help to avoid sharp breaks and abrupt jumps between ideas.

What is a Transition in a Sentence?
A transition statement is one with a clear signal. The use of transitional words, phrases, or sentences connects the main topic or another idea with clarity and coherence. Essentially, English transition words and phrases inform the reader that you about to alter your direction in some way.


Linking Words Rules: How to Write Transitional Words and Phrases in Sentences