Transitions

Question 1

Transitional words and phrases

Good writers combine two transition techniques:

Using transitional words and phrases (such as however or moreover) to make connections
Using placement of ideas to make connections (especially in longer papers)

Answer 1

Transitions are words or phrases (furthermore, for example, nevertheless, indeed) that indicate how a statement in one sentence relates to a statement that precedes or follows. In the following example, the underlined transitions signal contrast:

In the winter of 1973-74 drivers lined up all over America to fill their gas tanks. But it was not merely a question of a fifteen-minute wait and back on the road again. On the contrary, cars often began to congregate at dawn.

Transition words are most effective when they are placed at the beginnings of sentences (although they can also be used in the middle or at the end). The transition below signals a shift to similarity:

Similarly, walkers appeared early on frigid mornings with an empty five-gallon can in one hand and a pint of steaming coffee in the other, determined to wait out the chill and avoid disappointment.

The next passage uses a cause-and-effect transition:

Everybody had to wait. As a result, high-school kids took Saturday morning jobs as gas line sitters; spouses drove their mates to work and spent the rest of the day in line, and libraries had a surge of activity as people decided to catch up on their reading while waiting.

In the final passage, this writer signals that she is summing up and concluding:

All in all, Americans were at their best during that bizarre season, abiding by the new rules as if a place in the gas line had been guaranteed to everyone by the Bill of Rights.

Question 2

To add a thought or to show sequence in your own writing, use the following transitions:

Answer 2

again
equally important
in the first place
still
also
finally
last
then
and
first
moreover
and
then
furthermore
next
besides
in addition
second

Question 3

To amplify or intensify:

Answer 3

and
also
furthermore
moreover
again
further
in addition
too
after
all
even
indeed
truly
interestingly
it is true
of course

Question 4

To show insistence:

Answer 4

indeed
in fact
yes
no

Question 5

To compare or show likeness:

Answer 5

also
in the same way
likewise
similarly

Question 6

To show concession:

Answer 6

granted
it is true
of course
to be sure

Question 7

To show contrast:

Answer 7

although
despite
however
notwithstanding
still
and yet
even so
in contrast
on the contrary
though
at the same time
even though
in spite of
on the other hand
whereas
but for all that
nevertheless
regardless
yet

Question 8

To give examples:

Answer 8

an illustration of
for instance
specifically
for example
in fact
to illustrate

Question 9

To show a restatement:

Answer 9

that is
in other words
in simpler terms
to put it differently

Question 10

To show cause and effect or consequence:

Answer 10

accordingly
consequently
otherwise
therefore
to this end
as a result
for this purpose
since
thereupon
thus
because
hence
then
this with this object

Question 11

To show time or place:

Answer 11

above
below
formerly
near(by)
subsequently
adjacent to
earlier
here
opposite to
there
afterward
elsewhere
hitherto
simultaneously
this time
at the same time
farther on
later
so far
until now

Question 12

To repeat, summarize, or conclude:

Answer 12

all in all
in brief
in particular
in summary
therefore
altogether
in conclusion
in short
on the whole
to put it differently
as has been said
in other words
in simpler terms
that is
to summarize