Transition Words

What are they?

What are transition words?

Transition words are words like ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’ and ‘because’. They show your reader the
relationship between phrases, sentences, or even paragraphs. When you use them, you
make it easier for your readers to understand how your thoughts and ideas are
connected. What is more, they prepare your reader for what’s coming.
Example:

Let’s consider an example.

I pushed the domino. As a result, it fell over.

When you start a sentence with ‘as a result’, your reader will immediately know two things:

1. What happened in the first sentence caused something;

2. The second sentence is going to describe the effect.
Exploring transition words:

Let’s use a more concrete example. Below, you see Text A and Text B. Text A contains no
transition words. On the surface, Text B is the exact same, only we’ve added transition
words to make it easier to read.
No transitions:

Text A

I’m going to discuss a few reasons why practice is important to learning skills. The only
way to truly master a skill is by actually doing what you’ll have to do in the real world. I
think practice can be a fun way of putting in the necessary hours. There are some people
who will disagree. It is said that people tend to remember only 10-20% of what they’ve
heard or read. That number rises to as much as 90% when you put theory to practice.
Following up explanation with practice is key to mastering a skill.
With transitions:

Text B

In this paragraph, I’m going to discuss a few reasons why practice is important to mastering
skills. Firstly, the only way to truly learn a skill is by actually doing what you’ll have to do in the
real world. Secondly, I think practice can be a fun way of putting in the necessary hours. There are,
however, some people who will disagree. Thirdly, and most importantly, it is said that people
tend to remember only 10-20% of what they read or hear. Moreover, that number rises to as much
as 90% when you put theory to practice. In conclusion, following up explanation with practice is
key to mastering a skill.
Types of transition words:

Transition words can be divided into several categories, based on the type of transition you
want to make. There are often several words available for one transition. Sometimes they mean
exactly the same, sometimes there are slight differences. If you’re not a native speaker or
struggle with language in general, you’ll have to study and practice their use so that you can
make better choices.
How to improve yourself with transition words:

There are several potential problem areas when it comes to transition words. Let’s start with the good
news: everyone uses them in some way. There are very few authors who never use the words ‘and’,
‘but’, ‘or’, and the like. Using them correctly or frequently enough, however, doesn’t come naturally to
everyone. Using transition words successfully requires a couple of things. You have to:

1. Know the transition words;

2. Have a clear idea of the relationships between separate thoughts and ideas within your text;
3. Know how to apply transition words properly and in context;
Answer the following question:
Fill in the gaps with the correct transition words:
Answer key: