Transitions
By Helen Porter
Transitional Expressions aid coherence by indicating the relationships among sentences, establishing spatial, chronological, and logical connections in a paragraph.
- To Signal Sequence or Addition: again, furthermore, also, in addition, besides, another, first, second, third, too
- To Signal Time: afterward, as soon as, at first, at the same time, before, earlier, finally, in the meantime, later, meanwhile, next, now, soon, subsequently, then, until
- To Signal Comparison: although, but, despite, even though, however, in contrast, instead, meanwhile, nevertheless, nonetheless, on the contrary, on the one hand on the other hand, still, whereas, yet
- To Signal Examples: for example, for instance, namely, specifically, thus
- To Signal Narrowing of Focus: after all, indeed, in particular, specifically, in fact, in other words, that is
- To Signal Conclusions or Summaries: as a result, consequently, in conclusion, in other words, in summary, therefore, thus, to conclude
- To Signal Concession: admittedly, certainly, granted, naturally, of course
- To Signal Causes or Effects: accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, hence, since, so, then
About the author: Helen Hadley Porter is the director of the Montana State University Writing Center.