LINKING WORDS& PHRASES

LINKING WORDSALTHOUGH SOME OF THESE WORDS HAVE ALREADY BEEN MENTIONED AS SENTENCE CONNECTORS, THEY CAN ALSO BE USED TO DEVELOP COHERENCE WITHIN A PARAGRAPH, THAT IS LINKING ONE IDEA / ARGUMENT TO ANOTHER. PRINT OFF THIS PAGE TO KEEP AS A REFERENCE OF USEFUL LINKING WORDS AND PHRASES.

Sequence Result Emphasis•First / firstly, second / secondly, third / thirdly etc•Next, last, finally•In addition, moreover•Further / furthermore•Another•Also•In conclusion•To summarise

•So•As a result•As a consequence (of)•Therefore•Thus•Consequently•Hence•Due to

•Undoubtedly•Indeed•Obviously•Generally•Admittedly•In fact•Particularly / in particular•Especially•Clearly•Importantly

Addition Reason Example•And•In addition / additionally / an additional•Furthermore•Also•Too•As well as

•For•Because•Since•As•Because of

•For example•For instance•That is (ie)•Such as•Including•Namely

Contrast Comparison  •However•Nevertheless•Nonetheless•Still•Although / even though•Though•But•Yet•Despite / in spite of•In contrast (to) / in comparison•While•Whereas•On the other hand•On the contrary

•Similarly•Likewise•Also•Like•Just as•Just like•Similar to•Same as•Compare•compare(d) to / with•Not only...but also 

LINKING & CONNECTING WORDS

• IT IS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTAND HOW LINKING WORDS, AS A PART OF SPEECH, CAN BE USED TO COMBINE IDEAS IN WRITING - AND THUS ENSURE THAT IDEAS WITHIN SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS ARE ELEGANTLY CONNECTED - FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE READER.

• THIS WILL HELP TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING (E.G. ESSAY, COMMENT, SUMMARY (SCIENTIFIC) REVIEW, (RESEARCH) PAPER, LETTER, ABSTRACT, REPORT, THESIS, ETC.). 

•

IT IS ALSO FUNDAMENTAL TO BE AWARE OF THE SOMETIMES SUBTLE MEANING OF THESE "SMALL" WORDS WITHIN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

LINKING WORDS

REMEMBER: AN ESSAY SHOULD NOT BE MERELY A LIST OF NOTES AND SUB-HEADINGS FOLLOWED BY A LIST OF DASHES (-) OR STARS (*) ACCOMPANIED BY ONE OR TWO WORDS AND/OR QUOTATIONS FROM THE TEXT WITH NO EXPLANATION OF WHAT THEY ARE DOING THERE. AN ESSAY SHOULD BE THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARGUMENT, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS THROUGH EXTENDED AND FLOWING NARRATIVE (SEE OUR SECTIONS ON "HOW TO WRITE A PARAGRAPH" AND "HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY").

USING THE RIGHT LINKING WORDS HELPS YOU TO ORGANIZE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT A TEXT. IT ALSO HELPS YOU INTRODUCE AND DEVELOP THE ESSENTIAL IDEAS THAT WILL FORM THE BASIS OF YOUR ESSAY IN A TIGHTLY CONNECTED STRUCTURE AND AS SHORT A SPACE AS POSSIBLELINKING WORDS AND OTHER CONNECTING DEVICES HELP YOU CARRY OVER FROM ONE SENTENCE TO ANOTHER, FROM ONE PARAGRAPH TO ANOTHER, IN A WAY THAT ALLOWS THE READER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND YOUR IDEAS. SINCE YOUR READER DOES NOT SEE THE WORLD EXACTLY AS YOU SEE IT AND DOES NOT NECESSARILY MAKE THE SAME MENTAL CONNECTIONS YOU MAKE, LINKING WORDS ALSO HELP YOU TO ARTICULATE YOUR IDEAS AND COMMUNICATE THEM TO OTHER PEOPLE IN A WAY THAT SUPPORTS A CLEAR AND PERSUASIVE ARGUMENT.

NOTE THAT CONNECTING WORDS AND PHRASES ARE AIDS TO WRITING, NOT ENDS IN THEMSELVES. THEREFORE, THEY SHOULD NOT BE USED EXCESSIVELY.

COMMONLY USED CONNECTING WORDS AND PHRASES

* TO SHOW SIMILARITY:SIMILARLY, LIKEWISE, IN A SIMILAR MANNER, LIKE, IN THE SAME WAY, ANALOGOUSLY

* TO COMPARE OR SHOW CONTRAST:HOWEVER, NEVERTHELESS, RATHER, WHEREAS, BUT, YET, ON THE OTHER HAND, ON THE CONTRARY, BY COMPARISON, COMPARED TO, UP AGAINST, BALANCED AGAINST, VIS A VIS, ALTHOUGH, CONVERSELY, BUT, MEANWHILE, IN CONTRAST, AFTER ALL, OTHERWISE, ALTERNATIVELY.

* TO EXPRESS AN ALTERNATIVE:OR, EITHER . . . OR, WHETHER . . . OR

* TO EXPRESS CONCESSION:GRANTED, NATURALLY, OF COURSE, ONE MAY OBJECT THAT . . .

* TO INTRODUCE A NEW POINT:FURTHERMORE, MOREOVER, IN ADDITION

* TO PLACE WHAT YOU HAVE JUST SAID IN A PARTICULAR CONTEXT:IN THIS CONNECTION, IN THIS PERSPECTIVE

* TO ADD SOMETHING:AND, AGAIN, AND THEN, BESIDES, EQUALLY IMPORTANT, FINALLY, FURTHER, FURTHERMORE, NEXT, WHAT IS MORE, MOREOVER, AS WELL AS, IN ADDITION, FIRST (SECOND, ETC.), NOT ONLY . . . BUT

* TO PROVE YOUR POINT:BECAUSE, FOR, SINCE, FOR THE SAME REASON, OBVIOUSLY, EVIDENTLY, INDEED, IN FACT, IN ANY CASE, THAT IS, DEMONSTRABLY.

* TO SHOW CAUSE AND EFFECT:AS A RESULT, CONSEQUENTLY, HENCE, DUE TO, IN VIEW OF, ON ACCOUNT OF, ACCORDINGLY, FOR THIS REASON, THEREFORE.

* TO GIVE AN EXAMPLE OR AN ILLUSTRATION:FOR EXAMPLE, FOR INSTANCE, IN THIS CASE, IN ANOTHER CASE, TAKE THE CASE OF, TO ILLUSTRATE, AS AN ILLUSTRATION, TO TAKE ANOTHER EXAMPLE, NAMELY, THAT IS, AS SHOWN BY, AS ILLUSTRATED BY, AS EXPRESSED BY.

* TO REPEAT, INSIST AND/OR REFER BACK TO AN EARLIER POINT:AS I HAVE SAID, IN BRIEF, AS I HAVE NOTED, AS SUGGESTED ABOVE, AS HAS BEEN NOTED

* TO EMPHASIZE:DEFINITELY, EXTREMELY, INDEED, ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, OBVIOUSLY, NATURALLY, ALWAYS, NEVER, SURPRISINGLY, EMPHATICALLY, WITHOUT A DOUBT, CERTAINLY, UNDENIABLY, WITHOUT RESERVATION, PERENNIALLY, FOREVER.

* TO CONCLUDE A PARAGRAPH OR AN ESSAY:THUS, LASTLY, IN BRIEF, IN SHORT, ON THE WHOLE, TO SUM UP, TO CONCLUDE, IN CONCLUSION, AS I HAVE SHOWN, AS I HAVE SAID