21/3/2017 Linking words by Viv Quarry

LinkingWords

AnintroductionbyVivQuarry(www.vivquarry.com).

Linkingwordsareessentialforyourwritingtobenaturalandclear.

Linkingdevicesvaryinthreeways:

1.Positioninthetext.

SomelinkingwordsnormallyformalinkbetweenclausesWITHINasentence.Itisbadstyletostarta
sentencewiththesewords:

andbutsobecausethenuntilsuchas

areexamplesofthistypeoflinkingword.

AnothertypeoflinkingdeviceisusedtoformalinkBETWEENsentences.Thesewordsmuststartwitha
capitalletterandareusuallyimmediatelyfollowedbyacomma:

Furthermore,Moreover,However,Nevertheless,Therefore,Inconclusion,

areusedinthisway.

Mostlinkingwords,however,caneitherstartasentenceorformalinkbetweensentences.Thechoiceisup
tothewriter.

2.Thefunctionoflinkingwords

Linkingdevicesareneithernouns,norverbs.Theyprovideatextwithcohesionandillustratehowtheparts
ofthetextrelatetoeachother.Herearesomeofthefunctionswhichlinkingwordsprovide.

Addingextrainformationtothemainpoint,contrastingideas,expressingcauseandeffect,showingexactly
whensomethinghappened(narrating),expressingpurpose(why?)andopinion,listingexamples,making
conclusionsandgivingemphasis.

3.Grammaticaldifferences

Somelinkingwordsmustbefollowedbyaclause(Subject+Verb+Object).

E.g..whilewhybecausealthoughsowhereaswhen

Otherlinkingwordsshouldbefollowedbyanounphrase(Linkingword+(the)+Noun/Pronounorgerund)

E.g..becauseofdespiteduringinspiteof

Themajorityoflinkingdevicescanbefollowedbyeitheranounphraseoraclause.

HereisalistoftheprincipallinkingwordsinEnglish,theirfunctionandiftheirpositionisusuallyfixed.

LinkingwordsbyVivQuarry
Addingand Contrasting Expressingcause/reason
*and *but because
aswellas However, as
besides Although since
Moreover, despite Thisiswhy
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Furthermore, Inspiteof becauseof

Whatismore, Nevertheless, Dueto
Inaddition, Onthecontrary, Owingto
notonly....butalso ontheonehand Forthisreason,
anotherpointisthat ontheotherhand,
whereas Expressingeffect/result
relativeclauses while *so
whowhere butwhile so....that
that,which Incontrast, sucha...that
whosetowhom Neither...nor Therefore
whenwhat Thus
why Consequently,
Asaresult,
too...for/to
notenough...for/to
Narration Expressingpurpose
First(ofall) immediately to
Atfirst Once soasto
Atthebeginning Suddenly inorderthat
Inthebeginning Assoonas sothat
then on for(Nonspecific)
next Nosooner....than
Before Hardly...when Expressingopinion
After Finally Iwouldsaythat
Afterthat Eventually Inmyopinion,
afterwards Attheend Ithink(that)
When Intheend Ibelieve(that)
While Atlast Personally
during Tobeginwith, Apparently,
Soon until
priorto
Givingexamples Summingup/concluding Emphasis
forexample, Allinall especially
forinstance, overall particularly
Foronething, generally Naturally,
thisincludes Inconclusion, exactlybecause
suchase.g..(forexample) onthewhole aboveall
i.e.(thatis) inthemain Whatever
Tosumup, Whenever
too/enough
Themore....
*Avoidstartingasentencewiththesewords.
Thelinkingwordsbeginningwithacapitalletteroftenstartasentence,Forthosewithout,positionina
sentenceisoptional.

LinkingwordsDifficultcases
So
AVOIDSTARTINGASENTENCEWITHTHISWORD!

'So'canbeusedintwoways:

1.ToshowRESULT.

E.g..Itwasraining,sowedecidednottogotothebeach.

NOTE!'because'showstheREASON.Theabovesentencecouldbeexpressedlikethis:

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E.g..Wedecidednottogotothebeachbecauseitwasraining.

NOTE!ToshowaREASONLINKBETWEENSENTENCESuse'Therefore,'.

2.So&suchusedforEMPHASIS.

Whenusedforemphasis,'So'mustbefollowedbyeitheranadjectiveoranadverbandmustbelinkedtoan
explanationCLAUSE.

E.g..Itwassohotthatwedecidednottogotothebeach.

ORWedecidednottogotothebeachbecauseitwassohot.

NOTE!'such'isusedinthesameway,butmustbefollowedbyaNOUNorADJECTIVE+NOUN.

E.g..Itwassuchahotdaythatwedecidednottogotothebeach.

ORWedecidednottogotothebeachbecauseitwassuchahotday.

NOTE!Whenthereisnoexplanationclause,use'VERY',unlessreferringtoapresentsituation.

E.g..Itwasveryhotyesterday,wasn'tit?It'ssonicetoseeyouagain!

Enoughandtoo

'enough'goesAFTERADJECTIVES&ADVERBSbutBEFORENOUNS.

E.g..Youwon'tpasstheexamifyoudon'tworkhardenough.
ORHedidn'tgetthejobbecausehedidn'thaveenoughexperience.

'enough'canalsobeusedalone.

E.g..I'lllendyousomemoneyifyouhaven'tgotenough.

'too'means'morethannecessary'andcomesBEFOREADJECTIVES&ADVERBSONLY.

E.g..Thecoffeewastoohottodrink.

ButandHowever,

'but'isusedtoCONTRASTclausesWITHINASENTENCE.

E.g..Ilikegoingtothebeach,butInevergoatmidday.

'However,'hasthesamefunction,butisusedtoshowCONTRASTBETWEENSENTENCES.

E.g..I'vealwaysenjoyedgoingtothebeach.However,Inevergothereatmidday.

Although,though,eventhough&Inspiteof/despite,

'Although'mustjointwoclauses,butit'spositioncanchange.Itcaneitherstartasentenceorcomeinthe
middle.

E.g..Althoughitrainedalot,weenjoyedtheholiday.
ORWeenjoyedtheholidayalthoughitrainedalot.

InspokenEnglish'though'canbeusedinsteadof'although'whenitisusedforthesecondclause.

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E.g.."Ididn'tgetthejobthoughIhadallthenecessaryqualifications."

'though'canalsocomeattheendofasentence.

E.g.."Thehouseisn'tverynice.Ilikethegardenthough."

'Eventhough'isastrongerformof'although'.

E.g..EventhoughIwasreallytired,Icouldn'tsleep.

'Inspiteof'or'Despite'mustbefollowedbyaNOUN,PRONOUN(this,that,whatetc.)or~ING.

E.g..Inspiteoftherain,wewenttothebeach.
ORWewenttothebeachinspiteoftherain.

Itiscommontousetheexpression'Inspiteofthefact(that)....'or'Despitethefact(that)....'
E.g..She'squitefitinspiteofthefactthatshesmokes40cigarettesaday.

LinkingwordsoftimeStill,yetandalready

'Still'tellsusthatanactioniscontinuing,orhasn'thappenedyet.Ithaspositive,negativeandquestionforms.

E.g..It's10o'clockandJohn'sstillinbed.
orShesaidthatshewouldbehereanhouragoandshestillhasn'tcome.
orAreyoustilllivinginLondon?

'yet'asksifsomethinghashappened,ortosaythatsomethinghasn'thappened.Itismainlyusedin
NEGATIVES&QUESTIONSandcomesattheendofasentence.'Yet'isusuallyusedwiththepresent
perfecttense.

E.g..Hehasn'tfinishedthereportyet.
ORIsdinnerreadyyet?
'Already'isusedtosaythatsomethinghappenedbeforeexpected,itusuallycomesinmiddleposition,but
canalsocomeinfinalposition.'Already'isnotusedinnegativesandinBritishEnglishisonlyusedin
questionstoshowconsiderablesurprise.

E.g..I'lltellherthatdinnerisready.
Shealreadyknows.

Haveyoufinishedalready?!Ithoughtitwouldtakeyoulonger!

Inordertounderstandthistypeoflinkingword,youmustbeclearabouttheconceptsof'apointintime'and
'aperiodoftime'.Apointintimeistheanswertoa'when'question,andaperiodoftimeistheanswertoa
'howlong'question.

E.g..Pointsoftime=6pm,Wednesday,shearrived,summer,1999,Christmas,fiveminutesago.
Periodsoftime=3seconds,4days,ages,100years,theChristmasholiday,fiveminutes.

Duringandwhile

Both'during'and'while'tellusWHENsomethinghappened.Thedifferencebetweenthemisthat'during'is
followedbyanounphrase(noverb),and'while'isfollowedbyaclause(subject+verb+object).

E.g..WhendidyougotoBarcelona?

IwentthereduringmyholidayinEurope.
OR
IwenttherewhileIwasonholidayinEurope.
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'By'means'atsometimebefore'andtellsuswhensomethinghappens.Itisfollowedbyapointintimeand
canbeusedforbothpastandfuturetime.

E.g..Thisreportmustbefinishedby6pm.

'Bythetime'hasthesamemeaningbutisfollowedbyaclause.Itiscommonwithperfecttenses.

E.g..Bythetimewegettherethepartywillhavefinished.

For,sinceanduntil

Thesewordsalltellushowlongsomethinghappens.'For'focusesondurationandcanbeusedinmost
tenses.Itisfollowedbyaperiodoftime.
'Since'isonlyusedwithperfecttensesandmustbefollowedbyapointintime.

E.g..TheystayedinBarcelonafortwoweeks.

ORThey'vebeeninBarcelonasincelastFriday.=TheyarestillinBarcelonanow.

'Until'alsotellsushowlongsomethinghappens,butthefocusisontheendoftheactionorsituation.Itis
followedbyapointintime.

E.g..TheystayedinBarcelonauntillastFriday.=TheyleftBarcelonalastFriday.

Not....anymore/longerandnolonger

Theseexpressionstellusthatasituationhaschanged.'not....anymore/longer'goattheendofasentenceand
'nolonger'isusedinthemiddleofasentence.

E.g..Mr.Jonesdoesn'tworkhereanylonger.ORShenolongerworkshere.

As&like

'As'and'like'canbeusedinCOMPARISONS.

However,'As'MUSTBEFOLLOWEDBYACLAUSE,and'like'MUSTBEFOLLOWEDBYANOUN.

E.g..Heworkedforthecompany,ashisfatherhaddonebeforehim.
ORSheactslikeachildsometimes.

'As'canalsobefollowedbyapreposition

E.g..In1998,asin1997,inflationinBrazilfellsteadily.

'(not)as....as'+ADJECTIVEorADVERBshowsEQUALITYorINEQUALITY.

E.g..Sheisn'tastallasherfatherwas.ORThetrafficcanbeasbadinRioasitisinSo
Paulo.

'As'canbeusedtostatetheROLE,JOBorFUNCTIONofapersonorthing.

E.g..Weallworkedtogetherasateam.ORSheworkedasamanagerintheHumanResources
Department.ORHeusedhishandkerchiefasaflagtoattractattention.

'As'canbeusedinthesamewayas'because'however,itgiveslessemphasisthan'because'.

E.g..Astheweatherwassobad,wedidn'tgotothebeach.
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ORIboughthersomeflowersasshehadbeensokindtome.

'As'tellsusthatactionsoccuratthesametime.

E.g..Asthedooropened,shesawhimstandingbythewall.

'As'isoftenusedinthesecommonexpressions:

Ashardas,assoonas,aslongas,aswellas,asfaras,asgoodas.

E.g..HecanstayhereasfarasI'mconcerned.Youcangoaslongasyoucomehomeearly.

'As'isalsotheprepositionusedaftertheseverbs:

Regardedasseesth.asbethoughtofasBelookedonas.

ThereareverygoodpracticeexercisesforlinkingwordsinRaymondMurphy'sexcellentbook'English
GrammarinUse'.
So&Such=Unit101,Enough&Too=Unit102,Time=Units110,118&119,Contrast=Unit112,
As=Units115117.

Linking words practice exercises

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