Kettler G19 y 481-5740
www.ipfw.edu/casa/wc
                                                                      Every writer needs a reader.
                                            Transitions
Transitional words or phrases show readers how the writer wants them to read, interpret, react to,
and evaluate what was written about the subject. Writers can use these devices like bridges to carry
the reader gracefully from one idea development to the next: sentence to sentence, paragraph to
paragraph, and one part of a document to the next. Because they direct the reader’s attention in
specific ways, there are several categories of transitions for writers to choose from.
Here are some categories of common transitional devices that writers can use:
To Add:
and                       besides                   further                   next
again                     equally important         furthermore               lastly
and then                  finally                   nor                       what is more
in addition               first (second, etc.)      too                       moreover
To Repeat or To Explain:
in brief               as I have said               as I have noted           as has been noted
in other words
To Emphasize:
emphatically              without a doubt           in fact                   never
extremely                 without reservation       in deed                   always
definitely                without question          in any case               forever
absolutely                unquestionably            naturally                 perennially
positively                undeniably                surprisingly              eternally
certainly                 moreover
To Make a Case:
because                   for                       that is                   indeed
moreover                  for the same reason       in other words            in fact
furthermore               besides                   in any case               in addition
To Show Cause and Effect:
therefore             thus                          consequently              so, so that
accordingly           for this reason               as a result               to this end
hence                 because                       then
To Show Exception:
yet, still                once in a while           in spite of               of course
however                   sometimes                 despite                   nevertheless
To Concede:
although it is true that   granted that          I admit that naturally    it may appear that
                           of course
To Give an Example:
for example                in this case        to illustrate               on this occasion
for instance               in another case     as an illustration          in this situation
even                       take the case of    in the following example    indeed
of course                  specifically        such as                     in fact
To Compare:
again                      also                  in the same way           likewise
                           once more             similarly
To Contrast:
on the one hand            but                 although this may be true   meanwhile
on the other hand          yet                 although                    after all
on the contrary            still               though                      despite
in contrast                however             where                       in spite of
compared to                nevertheless        whereas                     regardless
instead                    nonetheless         conversely
To Show Time:
first (second, etc.)       immediately, now      thereafter                previously
next                       soon, as soon as      later                     formerly
at last                    after a few hours     earlier                   before
lately                     afterward             then                      as long as
since                      presently             simultaneously            in the meantime
when                       until                 so far                    meanwhile
To Show Sequence:
first (second, etc.)       next                  after                     simultaneously
A, B, C, etc.              too                   afterward                 concurrently
at this time               following this        then, and then            thus
at this point              previously            finally                   still
now                        before this           consequently moreover     therefore
                           subsequently                                    hence
 To Summarize or Conclude:
as I have shown      in brief                    accordingly               as a result
as I have said       in summary                  hence                     consequently
as mentioned earlier summing up                  thus                      on the whole
                     to conclude                 therefore                 in any event
                     in short                                              in other words