This structured list of commonly used English transition
words — approximately 200, can be considered as quasi
complete. It can be used (by students and teachers alike) to
find the right expression. English transition words are
essential, since they not only connect ideas, but also can
introduce a certain shift, contrast or opposition, emphasis or
agreement, purpose, result or conclusion, etc. in the line of
argument.
The transition words and phrases have been assigned only
once to somewhat artificial categories, although some words
belong to more than one category.
Transitional words and phrases show the relationships
between the parts of a sentence, between the sentences in a
paragraph, or between the paragraphs in a longer piece of
writing (i.e., an essay, short story, novel, magazine article,
etcetera). Although transitional words and phrases mean
little by themselves, they are very important in linking your
ideas together smoothly and logically so that your paragraphs
have coherence. Transitional words and phrases can be
divided into categories according to the kind of relationship
you as a writer are trying to show. There are eight (8) basic
categories you must learn:
Capitalization
is the writing of a word with its first letter in uppercase and
the remaining letters in lowercase. Experienced writers are
stingy with capitals. It is best not to use them if there is any
doubt.
RULES OF CAPITALIZATION
Noun
A noun (from Latin nōmen, literally meaning "name") is a
word that functions as the name of some specific thing or set
of things, such as living creatures, objects, places, actions,
qualities, states of existence, or ideas. Linguistically, a noun is
a member of a large, open part of speech whose members
can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the
object of a verb, or the object of a preposition.
Phrases
In everyday speech, a phrase may be any group of words,
often carrying a special idiomatic meaning; in this sense it is
roughly synonymous with expression. In linguistic analysis, a
phrase is a group of words (or possibly a single word) that
functions as a constituent in the syntax of a sentence, a single
unit within a grammatical hierarchy. A phrase appears within
a clause, but it is possible also for a phrase to be a clause or
to contain a clause within it.
Proper nouns
Proper nouns are the names of a specific person, place, or
thing. The basic capitalization rule of proper nouns is that the
first letters are capitalized.
To help you build an understanding of the different types of
proper nouns that need to be capitalized, the following are
some overall proper noun categories:
Names of People & Pets: Maria Santos, Mr. Michael Jones,
Lassie
Geographical Locations: Chicago, Asia, Ireland, Mount
Everest, Mississippi River
Months, Days of the Week, Holidays: Monday, January,
Christmas (Note: We do not capitalize the names of seasons:
summer, winter, fall, etc.)
Astronomical Names: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn (Note: sun and
moon are generally not capitalized in sentences unless they
are a part of a list of other astronomical names)
Newspapers, Magazines, Journals, Books: Chicago-Sun Times,
Pronoun
A pronoun (I, me, he, she, herself, you, it, that, they, each,
few, many, who, whoever, whose, someone, everybody, etc.)
is a word that takes the place of a noun. In the sentence Joe
saw Jill, and he waved at her, the pronouns he and her take
the place of Joe and Jill, respectively
Type of pronouns
Pronouns can be divided into numerous categories including:
Indefinite pronouns– those referring to one or more
unspecified objects, beings, or places
Personal pronouns– those associated with a certain person,
thing, or group; all except you have distinct forms that
indicate singular or plural number
Reflexive pronouns – those preceded by the adverb,
adjective, pronoun, or noun to which they refer, and ending
in –self or –selves
Demonstrative pronouns – those used to point to something
specific within a sentence
Possessive pronouns – those designating possession or
ownership
Relative pronouns – those which refer to nouns mentioned
previously, acting to introduce an adjective (relative) clause
Interrogative pronouns – those which introduce a question
Reciprocal pronouns – those expressing mutual actions or
relationship; i.e. one another
Intensive pronouns – those ending in –self or –selves and that
serve to emphasize their antecedents
Adjectives
In linguistics, an adjective (abbreviated adj) is a describing
word, the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or
noun phrase, giving more information about the object
signified. Adjectives are one of the English parts of speech,
although historically they were classed together with the
nouns.
Apposituves
An appositive is a noun, a noun phrase, or a noun clause
which sits next to another noun to rename it or to describe it
in another way. (The word appositive comes from the Latin
for to put near.)
Appositives are usually offset with commas, brackets, or
dashes.
Punctuation is the system of signs or symbols given to a
reader to show how a sentence is constructed and how it
should be read.Sentences are the building blocks used to
construct written accounts. They are complete statements.
Punctuation shows how the sentence should be read and
makes the meaning clear. Every sentence should include at
least a capital letter at the start, and a full stop, exclamation
mark or question mark at the end. This basic system indicates
that the sentence is complete.
The comma is useful in a sentence when the writer wishes to:
pause before proceeding
Add a phrase that does not contain any new subject
separate items on a list
use more than one adjective (a describing word, like
beautiful)
Commas are used to separate adjectives.
Commas are also used to separate items in a list.
As commas represent a pause, it is good practice to read your
writing out loud and listen to where you make natural pauses
as you read it. More often than not, you will indicate where a
comma should be placed by a natural pause. Although, the
‘rules’ of where a comma needs to be placed should also be
followed.
Full stop
A full stop should always be used to end a sentence. The full
stop indicates that a point has been made and that you are
about to move on to further explanations or a related point.
Less frequently, a series of three full stops (an ellipsis) can be
used to indicate where a section of a quotation has been
omitted when it is not relevant to the text.
Exclamation point
An exclamation mark indicates strong feeling within a
sentence, such as fear, anger or love. It is also used to
accentuate feeling within the written spoken word.
The exclamation mark at the end of a sentence means that
you do not need a full stop.
Exclamation marks are a poor way of emphasising what you
think are important points in your written assignments; the
importance of the point will emphasise itself without a
sequence of !!! in the text. An exclamation mark should only
be used when absolutely essential, or when taken from a
direct quote.
The exclamation mark should be used sparingly in formal and
semi-formal writing.
Question mark
The question mark simply indicates that a sentence is asking a
question. It always comes at the end of a sentence:
Semi-colon
The semi-colon is perhaps the most difficult sign of
punctuation to use accurately. If in doubt, avoid using it and
convert the added material into a new sentence.
As a general rule, the semi-colon is used in the following
ways:
When joining two connected sentences.
Colon
The colon within a sentence makes a very pointed pause
between two phrases. There are two main uses of the colon:
It is most commonly used when listing.
Apostrophe
The apostrophe, sometimes called an inverted comma has
two main uses.
The apostrophe indicates possession or ownership.
Quotation or speech marks
Quotation or speech marks are used to:
To mark out speech
When quoting someone else's speech
It is worth noting that to report an event back does not
require speech or quotation marks.
Hyphen
The hyphen is used to link words together.
The hyphen is also used when a word is split between two
lines. The hyphen should be placed between syllables at the
end of the upper line and indicates to the reader that the
word will be completed on the next line.
Brackets
Brackets always come in pairs ( ) and are used to make an
aside, or a point which is not part of the main flow of a
sentence. If you remove the words between the brackets,
the sentence should still make sense.
Square brackets
A different set of square brackets [ ] can be used:
to abbreviate lengthy quotations
to correct the tense of a quotation to suit the tense of your
own sentence
to add your own words to sections of an abbreviated
quotation.
To abbreviate lengthy quotations in an essay or report
Slash
Many people use the slash instead of or, and etc., but this is
not always helpful to the reader. There is, however, a
modern convention in gender-neutral writing to use ‘s/he’.
Ellipsis
An ellipsis is a set of three periods ( . . . ) indicating an
omission. Each period should have a single space on either
side, except when adjacent to a quotation mark, in which
case there should be no space.
Informal writing
In informal writing, an ellipsis can be used to represent a
trailing off of thought.
If only she had . . . Oh, it doesn’t matter now.
An ellipsis can also indicate hesitation, though in this case the
punctuation is more accurately described as suspension
points.
Dashes and hyphen
Two kinds of dashes are used throughout written
communications. They are the endash and the emdash. An
endash is a symbol (-) that is used in writing or printing to
connect numbers or to connect elements of a compound
adjective, such as 1880 - 1945 or Princeton - New York trains.
However, the emdash has more complicated grammatical
use. The symbol of - is used to:
Indicate a break in thought or sentence structure
Introduce a phrase added for emphasis, definition, or
explanation
Separate two clauses