Useful Phrases For Writing

This list is not exhaustive, but has been designed to give you the basic
phrases that you can use to structure your essays coherently. Do not Adding elements
overuse these phrases, and make sure that your essays have plenty of
Furthermore, one should not forget that...
interesting and relevant content.
In addition to...
Moreover...
A. General Phrases It is important to add that…

Developing the argument Accepting other points of view

The first aspect to point out is that... Nevertheless, one should accept that...
Let us start by considering the facts. However, we also agree that...
The (story, novel, essay…) portrays, deals with, revolves around…
Central to the novel is… Personal opinion
The character of xxx embodies/ epitomizes…
We/I personally believe that...
Our/My own point of view is that...
It is my contention that…
The other side of the argument I am convinced that …
It would also be interesting to see... My own opinion is …
One should, nevertheless, consider the problem from another angle.
Equally relevant to the issue are the questions of... Others' opinions
According to some critics...
Conclusion
The arguments we have presented... suggest that.../ prove that.../ would Critics believe that
indicate that... say that
From these arguments one must.../ could.../ might... conclude that... suggest that
All of this points to the conclusion that... are convinced that
To conclude, … point out that
emphasise that
Ordering elements contend that
Firstly,.../ Secondly,.../ Finally,... (note the comma after all these go as far as to say that
introductory words.) argue for this
As a final point, …
On the one hand, …. on the other hand, … Introducing examples
If on the one hand it can be said that... the same is not true for... For example, …
The first argument suggests that... whilst the second suggests that... For instance, …
To illustrate this point...
There are at least xxx points to highlight.
Introducing facts
It is... true that.../ clear that.../ noticeable that...
One should note here that...

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 Useful Phrases For Writing
Comparison
Some critics suggest..., whereas others...
Saying what you think is true Compared to...
This leads us to believe that... On the one hand there is the firm belief that... On the other hand, many
It is very possible that... people are convinced that...
In view of these facts, it is quite likely that...
B. Phrases For Balanced Arguments
Certainty
Doubtless,... Introduction
One cannot deny that... It is often said that...
It is (very) clear from these observations that... It is undeniable that...
It is a well-known fact that...
Doubt One of the most striking features of this text is...
All the same, it is possible that...
It is difficult to believe that... Thesis
The first thing that needs to be said is...
Accepting other points to certain degree First of all, let us try to analyse...
One can agree up to a certain point with... One argument in support of...
Certainly,... However,... We must distinguish carefully between...
It cannot be denied that... The second reason for...
An important aspect of the text is...
Emphasising particular points It is worth stating at this point that...
The last example highlights that fact that...
Not only... but also...
Antithesis
We would even go so far as to say that... On the other hand, we can observe that...
The other side of the coin is, however, that...
Moderating, agreeing, disagreeing Another way of looking at this question is to...
By and large...
Perhaps we should also point out the fact that... Conclusion
It would be unfair not to mention that fact that... What conclusions can be drawn from all this?
One must admit that... The most satisfactory conclusion that we can come to is...
We cannot ignore the fact that... To sum up... we are convinced that.../ ...we believe that.../ ...we have to
One cannot possibly accept the fact that... accept that...

Consequences
From these facts, one may conclude that...
That is why, in our opinion, ...
Which seems to confirm the idea that...
Thus,.../ Therefore,...

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 Useful Phrases For Writing
C. Remarks
Verbs
The quickest way to improve your writing is by paying attention to verbs.
 English is a language rich in verbs, so the use of vague verbs or long
verb phrases is unnecessary. Simply converting "takes a look at" to
"examines," "talks about in detail" to "analyzes," etc. will make a
difference in your prose.
 Weak action verbs (such as do, get, have, go, make, say, etc.) can
often be replaced by stronger ones ("has," for example, can be
replaced by words like "displays," "exemplifies," "demonstrates," etc.).
 Weak action verbs paired with an adverb can usually be treated
similarly ("talk heatedly," for instance, becomes "argue"), as can
those paired with a noun ("make an argument" becomes "argue,"
"give an explanation" becomes "explain," etc.).
 And as much as possible, make sure your verbs are in the active
voice: "He threw the ball" (active voice) rather than "The ball was
thrown by him" (passive voice). As you can see, passive voice is
wordier and less direct.
Sentence variety
Make sure there's some variety in the length and types of your sentences.
Work at occasionally opening a sentence with something other than the
subject. Student writers often tend to write strings of short, simple
sentences. This makes the paper choppy and makes the ideas sound
simpleminded. If choppy sentences are a problem, combine some of
them into longer and more complex sentences.
You will find some transitions next. You might find some repeated ideas
from the sentence blocks before.
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D. Transitional problems
Example of unclear transition:
The characters in Book A face a moral dilemma. In the same way, the
characters in Book B face a similar problem.
 This example dangles arguments whereas the argument itself picks up
coherently.
Improved transition:
The characters in Book A face a moral dilemma, a contested inheritance.
Although the inheritance in Book B consists of an old house and not a pile
of money, the nature of the problem is quite similar.
Examples of Transitions:
Illustration Thus, for example, for instance, namely, to
illustrate, in other words, in particular,
specifically, such as.
Contrast On the contrary, contrarily, notwithstanding,
but, however, nevertheless, in spite of, in
contrast, yet, on one hand, on the other hand,
rather, or, nor, conversely, at the same time,
while this may be true.
Addition And, in addition to, furthermore, moreover,
besides, than, too, also, both-and, another,
equally important, first, second, etc., again,
further, last, finally, not only-but also, as well as,
in the second place, next, likewise, similarly, in
fact, as a result, consequently, in the same way,
for example, for instance, however, thus,
therefore, otherwise.
Time After, afterward, before, then, once, next, last,
at last, at length, first, second, etc., at first,
formerly, rarely, usually, another, finally, soon,
meanwhile, at the same time, for a minute, hour,
day, etc., during the morning, day, week, etc.,
most important, later, ordinarily, to begin with,
[continued next page…]
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 Useful Phrases For Writing
Suggestion For this purpose, to this end, with this in mind,
with this purpose in mind, therefore.
afterwards, generally, in order to, subsequently,
previously, in the meantime, immediately,
eventually, concurrently, simultaneously.

Space At the left, at the right, in the center, on the

Have fun with writing 

side, along the edge, on top, below, beneath,
under, around, above, over, straight ahead, at
the top, at the bottom, surrounding, opposite, at
the rear, at the front, in front of, beside, behind,
next to, nearby, in the distance, beyond, in the
forefront, in the foreground, within sight, out of
sight, across, under, nearer, adjacent, in the
background.

Concession Although, at any rate, at least, still, thought,

even though, granted that, while it may be true,
in spite of, of course.

Similarity Of Similarly, likewise, in like fashion, in like

Comparison manner, analogous to.

Emphasis Above all, indeed, truly, of course, certainly,

surely, in fact, really, in truth, again, besides,
also, furthermore, in addition.

Details Specifically, especially, in particular, to explain,

to list, to enumerate, in detail, namely, including.

Examples For example, for instance, to illustrate, thus, in

other words, as an illustration, in particular.

Consequence Or So that, with the result that, thus, consequently,

Result hence, accordingly, for this reason, therefore, so,
because, since, due to, as a result, in other
words, then.

Summary Therefore, finally, consequently, thus, in short,

in conclusion, in brief, as a result, accordingly.

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