Writing LINKERS AND CONNECTORS

1. STRUCTURE
To begin with Secondly
To start with the writer tells us that city life is In the second
he tells us how unhealthy it is.
In the first place dangerous . place
Firstly Next

he describes how cities cause In conclusion he says that the days of the cities
Finally
families to break up. To sum up are numbered.

2. SEQUENCE
Then
First (of all) he opened the door. After he looked outside.
that

3. ADDING IDEAS

a. Adding adjectives within a sentence.

London is (both) exciting and / as well as tiring

b. Adding nouns within sentences

attending university in Scotland.

, together with his friend, is
My brother , as well as his friend, is
“And” CANNOT be used to join
and his friend are
sentences in formal English

c. Adding ideas in different sentences

Furthermore
My father was a In addition
he was a very good one.
teacher. Not only that,
Moreover

4. ALTERNATIVES

a. Joining ideas within sentences:

You can have fish or meat tonight
I don't like (either) meat or fish.
I like neither meat nor fish
b. Alternatives in two sentences:
I could write this text by hand. Alternatively, I could type it.

5. CONCESSION / CONTRAST

a. Within sentences

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Even though
Although my brother prefers country life, he lives in the
Whereas city.
“But” joins main clauses, NEVER
My brother prefers country life but he lives in the city.
sentences in formal English.
In contrast to me,
Contrasting nouns and pronouns with As opposed to me, my brother prefers...
ideas in clauses. Unlike me,

b. Linker + noun phrase + ~ing-form

In spite of
living in the city, my brother prefers …
Despite

c. Linking sentences

However
I live in the country I prefer city life.
Nevertheless
On the one hand, country life is peaceful, on the other hand it can be very boring.

6. TIME (Introducing temporal clauses.)

a. As soon as
The moment
When Bob gets home, I'll make his tea.
Immediately (THERE IS NO FUTURE TENSE IN THE TEMPORAL (= "TIME")
Once CLAUSE!!)
Before
After
b. Whenever (= "always when") I'm with you I'm late.
c: By the time he gets home,
(Future perfect tense in the main clause.)
I'll have made his tea.
d. Linker + noun phrase + ~ing- Since living here, I've had nothing but trouble.
form After living in London, I moved to Liverpool.
I won't do anything until I've heard from you. (Present perfect in the
e. "Bis" = "until"
temporal clause!)

7. CONDITION
a. If
Provided that
As long as
the good weather holds, the match will take place.
Assuming that
Granted that
Given that
If the good weather does not
Unless the good weather holds, the
b. Unless (= "if .... not") hold, the match will not take
match will not take place.
place.
c. In case (= "Falls..." / "Für In case I'm not at home when you come, leave the parcel in the
den Fall daß...) garage.

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8. PURPOSE / INTENTION

a. Affirmative sentences:
so as to become more independent.
She left home in order to become more independent.
to become more independent.
She left home so that she could become more independent.

b. Negative sentences.

so as not to be too dependent on her parents.

She left home
in order not to be too dependent on ......

9. REASON (CAUSE)

a. Linker + noun:
She left home because of the quarrels her parents were always having.
b. Linker + clause

because her parents were always having rows.

since* her parents were always having rows.
She left home as her parents were always having rows.

(cf. 6d above for other meanings of "since")

10. RESULT

a. Within a sentence:
I haven't any money so I can't help you. (“So” CANNOT be used to join sentences in formal English.)
b. Linking sentences:

Therefore,
Thus,
Stress makes many students tired. Consequently they should relax at the weekend.
As a result of
this,

11. EXCEPTION
With the exception of
Apart from an occasional cold, I've been healthy all winter.
Except for

12. EMPHASIS

a. Within a sentence:
especially reading,
All leisure activities, particularly reading, can cause tiredness.
even reading,

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Writing LINKERS AND CONNECTORS

13. RESTATEMENT

Good working habits are very important for learning vocabulary.

In other words, working regularly and systematically will help you to learn vocabulary better and
That is to say, more quickly.

EXERCISES

A. CONNECTORS SHOWING ADDITION, ALTERNATIVES AND CONTRAST

Fill in the gaps with a suitable connector. Do not use the same connector more than once.

1. Setting realistic goals helps students to organise their work efficiently ... they provide the students with
suitable incentives.

2. Painters ... dramatists are taking part in the arts festival.

3. The first sentence of any text you read is most important because it attracts your attention. ... it will decide
whether you continue reading.

4. Books ... pencils, ... a lot of papers were lying untidily on the desk.

5. I don't care what you do. You can ... stay here ... go home.

6. If you can't get to the meeting on time, give me a ring tonight. ... leave a note with Mrs Smith.

7. ... John ... Edward was able to help me. I don't know who else to ask.

8. It's going to rain. Shall we stay in ... go out?

9. We enjoyed ourselves ... the weather was bad.

10. ... the weather was bad we enjoyed ourselves very much.

11. He wrote a book about New York ... he had never been there.

12. My father offered to lend me half the money towards the cost of the car. ... there was no way for me to raise
the other half so I didn't buy it.

13. He had never had a university education ... he became one of the most influential men in the country.

14. ... the ... living at home can restrict one's personal freedom; ... the ... it can save a student a lot of money.

B. LINKAGE AND REFERENCE.

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English food has a bad name abroad (although / because / if) foreigners visiting England often meet it in the more

'popular' type of restaurant (which / it / one) is the easiest to find. The food in (the / a / such) restaurants has to be

served quickly (and / as well as / in addition) being cheap. (Although / Nevertheless / Together with) the food is often

badly cooked (together with / as well as / and) presented without any imagination. This is because some of the

restaurants do not pay enough attention to what their customers want.

(Together with / Moreover / Whereas) these restaurants do nothing for the reputation of British food abroad, the

foreigner who takes a little trouble and compares the restaurants carefully, can eat well in Britain.

C. LINKERS SHOWING CONDITION, PURPOSE (INTENTION) AND REASON (CAUSE).

Note: "If" / "Assuming that" can be used in all types of conditional sentences. Other linkers are restricted to
probable conditions.)
Fill in the gaps with suitable linkers. Do not use the same one twice.

1. ... you work hard, you will probably get good marks in the examination.

2. We wouldn't have missed the bus ... we'd left earlier.

3. ... you change your working habits, you won't have any success.

4. Don't stand on that chair ... you'll fall over and hurt yourself.

5. ... I were you, I'd stop work now.

6. ... you don't make any noise, you can stay here.

7. He left at 7.30 a.m. ... could catch the bus.

8. He left at 7.30 a.m. ... catch the early bus.

9. He left at 7.30 a.m. ... catch the early bus.

10. I didn't say anything ... I didn't want to make him angry.

11. ... there was not enough demand the course was cancelled.

12. I went into his room quietly ... I didn't want to wake him.

D. WORK
To many people the work sounds awful, not necessarily (when / if / because / alternatively) they are lazy. The
man (which / who / what) hates his job in the factory (either / neither / otherwise / or) in the office may work very
hard at the weekend, painting the house. ... he may spend a lot of his weekend in the garden, digging and planting.

What, then, is the reason for this attitude? Often it is simply (because / although / while) they do not like the
job they are doing. (It / one / the same) may be easy, like making cardboard boxes. ... it may be well-paid. ... the man
still finds the job boring.

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Very often they have to do a job (where / which / who) is just a small part of a much larger one, such as
putting in the windows of a car. ... the part they play is so small that they can never have the feeling that they have
really created something.

... in modern society, someone has to do these jobs ... that is the way society is organised. What, therefore, can be
done to make work more attractive? Should the people get more pay (alternatively / neither / or / as well as) should
they be given more free time? ... if they are given more free time, how can they be taught to enjoy their leisure?

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