Common Transitional Words and Phrases

Th es e word s will help yo u achiev e a s m o o t h t r ansi tion b e t we en p aragr aph s and / or subj ec t s. If you h ave any qu e s tions on how t o u s e t h e m, pleas e f e el fre e t o co m e t o t h e STAR Cen t er and s e e Mandy Davis for h elp.

To sho w sequen ce

firs t, s ec on d, t hird, t hen, af t er, af t erward, since, bef or e, when, whenever, un til, as so on as, a s lon g a s, while, again, also, be sid e s, finally, fur t her m or e, las t, m or eov er, nex t, s till, t oo t h er efor e, t h us, cons e qu en tly, as a resul t, for t his r eason, so, so t h a t, accor dingly, b ecau s e, for t his pur po s e, henc e, t h er eup on, t o t his end, since similarly, likewise, in like m ann er, also, in fac t, ac t u ally, inde ed, c er t ainly, ag ain, in t h e sa m e way, on c e m or e howev er, on t h e on e han d / o n t h e o t h er hand, in con tr a s t, conver s ely, bu t, ye t, on t h e con t r ary, nev er t h eles s, none t h eles s, s till, no t wit h s t anding, d e spi t e, s till, al th ough, even t h ough, in spi t e of, ins t e ad, r eg ar dles s and, in addi tion, also, fur t her m or e, m or eover, be sides, nex t, again, t o o, s e con d, t hird, ano t h er, finally

To sho w cause and effect

To compare

To contrast

To sho w add ition

To ind icate tim e

b efor e, now, af t er, af t erwards, sub s e qu en tly, lat er, earlier, m eanwhile, in t h e m e an tim e, while, a s long as, so far, af t er a bi t, af t er a few d ay s, af t er a while, a s so on a s, a t las t , a t leng t h, a t ha t tim e, b efor e, earlier, im m e dia t ely, in t h e m ean tim e, in t h e pa s t, la t ely, pr e s en tly, sh or tly, simult aneou sly, since, t h en, t h er e af t er, un til, when

To give examples

for exam ple, for ins t an c e, s p ecifically, nam ely, t o illus tr a t e, t h a t is, in par ticular, af t er all, ev en, indeed, in fac t, of cour s e, such as, t h e following exam ple in gen er al, for t h e m o s t p ar t, a s a g ener al rule, on t h e whole, u sually, t ypically indeed, in fac t, as m a t t er of fac t, even abov e, adjacen t t o , b elow, bey ond, clos er t o, elsewher e, far, far t h er on, her e, near, nearby, opp o si t e t o, t h er e, t o t h e lef t, t o t h e righ t freq u en tly, of t en, usually, in gen er al, occa sionally, provid ed, in ca s e, unless, when, since, b e cau s e, for, if

To generalize

To empha siz e a point To sho w P lace

To sho w qua lificat ion

To signa l con cession

of cour s e, na t ur ally, al thou gh i t is t r u e t ha t, gran t e d t ha t , I ad mi t t ha t , it m ay app ear t h a t, al th ough, t ho ugh, no dou b t, t o be sur e, wher ea s, of cour se, doub tles s, c er t ainly

To conclude or summariz e in co nclusion, t o con clud e, in

sum m ary, t o sum m arize, in sh or t, in o t h er word s, t her ef or e, t hu s, in reality, a s a r e sul t, as h a s b e en no t e d, a s I have said, as we h ave s e en, a s m en tion ed earlier, in any even t, on t h e wh ole, t her ef or e