Transitional Words & Phrases

Transitional Words  Special words help show how ideas are related.  They tie one idea to another  They tie one sentence to another  They tie one paragraph to another

Addition  Also  Besides  Furthermore  In addition  Moreover  Again

Addition  For today’s assignment, you will need your journal in addition to the calendar on your computer.  For today’s assignment, you will need the calendar on your computer. In addition, your journal will provide further instructions.

Consequence  Accordingly  As a result  Consequently  Hence  Otherwise  So then  Therefore  Thus  Thereupon

Consequence  She was preparing to clean the desk, and subsequently realized she had no soap.  She was cleaning the desk with a strong cleaner. As a result, she burned her hands with the chemicals.

Summarizing  After allIn brief  All in allIn short  To summarizeFinally  BrieflyOn the whole  By and largeIn summary  In any caseIn conclusion  In any eventTo sum up  In the final analysisIn the long run  All things consideredOn balance

Summarizing  The song has interesting lyrics and a great beat. On the whole, I would recommend it to everyone.

Generalizing  As a rule  As usual  For the most part  Generally speaking  Ordinarily  Usually  Generally

Generalizing  Ordinarily, a 4x4 relay race involves four people and a baton.  Even though I only work 8 months out of the year, as a rule I vacation every summer.

Restatement  In essence  In other words  Namely  That is  That is to say  In short  In brief  To put it differently

Restatement  Good parties require good organization. In other words, we needed different committees to oversee different activities.  She likes athletic boys; to put it differently, she likes basketball players.

Contrast and Comparison  ContrastRather  By the same tokenConversely  SimiliarlyYet  InsteadBut  LikewiseHowever  On one handStill  On the other handNevertheless  On the contraryIn contrast

Contrast and Comparison  Shelia forgot the food for the party. On the other hand, she hired a great speaker that entertained the crowd for hours.

Sequence  At firstIn time  First of allIn turn  To begin withLater on  In the first placeMeanwhile  At the same timeNext  For nowThen  For the time beingSoon  The next stepThe meantime  LaterWhile  EarlierSimultaneously  AfterwardIn conclusion

Sequence  To begin with, the snowy weather prevented many people from attending the party.  I will be cooking the food and simultaneously cleaning the kitchen.

Illustration  For example  For instance  For one thing

Illustration  The girls were discussing the color of Susie’s prom dress. For one thing, it was too bright.  For instance, I do not like seafood.

Similarity  Likewise  Similar  Moreover  Together  Coupled with  Correspondingly

Similarity  Snow days extended this week’s lesson. Correspondingly, students had more time to finish their homework.

Direction  HereAbove  ThereTo the left  Over thereTo the right  BeyondIn the distance  Nearly  Opposite  Under

Direction  To the left, there were many people waiting for John Cena’s arrival.  The crowd grew impatient waiting for Larry Fitzgerald’s arrival, while in the distance they didn’t see him coming.