Research Writing Process (Book)

TRANSITIONAL WORD LIST

 

            A transition is a form of a verbal bridge.  Just as one must take a bridge to move across the Missouri River from Bismarck to Mandan, or to go from Mandan to Bismarck, transitions take the writer and his or her reader from one idea to another.  Sometimes a word is enough to link ideas together; at other times phrases are necessary.  Often entire sentences are essential to link details or thought together.

 

TO ADD OR SHOW SEQUENCE

again                                        even more                                            in the first place

also                                          eventually                                            last

and                                          finally                                                  moreover

and then                                  first                                                      next

at this point                             further                                                 second

besides                                   furthermore                                         still

equally important                    in addition                                           too

 

TO COMPARE

also                                          equally                                                 just as

as well as                                 have in common                                  likewise

at the same time                      in like manner                                      similarly

compared to                            in the same way

 

TO CONTRAST

although                                  however                                              otherwise

and yet                                     in contrast                                           regardless

as opposed to                          in contrast to                                       even though

but at the same time                in spite of                                            still

despite                                     nevertheless                                         though

equally important                    notwithstanding                                  yet

even so                                    on the contrary           

for all that                               on the other hand

 

TO GIVE EXAMPLES OR INTENSIFY

after all                                    indeed                                                 that is

an illustration of                      in fact                                                  to illustrate

even                                         it is true                                               truly

for example                             of course

for instance                             specifically

 

 

TO INDICATE PLACE

above                                       here                                                     there

adjacent to                              near                                                     to the east

below                                      nearby                                                 to the left

elsewhere                                on the other side

farther on                                opposite to

 

TO INDICATE TIME

after a while                            immediately                                        so far

afterward                                in the mean time                                  soon

as long as                                 in the past                                            subsequently

as soon as                                lately or later                                       then

at last                                       meanwhile                                           thereafter

at length                                  now                                                     until

at that time                              presently                                              until now

before                                      shortly                                                 when

earlier                                      simultaneously

formerly                                  since

 

TO INTRODUCE

as evidence of                         in fact                                                  it would appear

consider the following              in order to understand                                    it would seem that

for example                             in support of this                                

for instance                             it is (widely) believed

 

TO REPEAT, SUMMARIZE, OR CONCLUDE

again                                        in conclusion                                       therefore

all in all                                    in other words                                     to conclude

altogether                                in particular                                         to put it differently

as has been noted                    in short                                                to summarize

as has been said                       in simpler terms                                   undoubtedly

finally                                      in summary                                          unquestionably

for the reasons above              on the whole

in brief                                     that is

 

TO SHOW CAUSE OR EFFECT

all in all                                    in brief                                                 leads to

altogether                                in conclusion                                       on the whole

as has been noted                    in effect                                               that is

as has been said                       in other words                                     therefore

caused by                                in particular                                         to conclude

due to                                      in short                                                to put it differently

hence                                       in simpler terms                                   to summarize

if…then                                   in summary