Common Transitional Words and Phrases

Th es e word s will help yo u achiev e a s m o o t h t r ansi tion b e t we en

p aragr aph s and / or subj ec t s. If you h ave any qu e s tions on how t o u s e
t h e m, pleas e f e el fre e t o co m e t o t h e STAR Cen t er and s e e Mandy Davis
for h elp.

To sho w sequen ce firs t, s ec on d, t hird, t hen, af t er,

af t erward, since, bef or e, when,
whenever, un til, as so on as, a s lon g
a s, while, again, also, be sid e s, finally,
fur t her m or e, las t, m or eov er, nex t,
s till, t oo

To sho w cause and effect t h er efor e, t h us, cons e qu en tly, as a

resul t, for t his r eason, so, so t h a t,
accor dingly, b ecau s e, for t his
pur po s e, henc e, t h er eup on, t o t his
end, since

To compare similarly, likewise, in like m ann er,

also, in fac t, ac t u ally, inde ed,
c er t ainly, ag ain, in t h e sa m e way,
on c e m or e

To contrast howev er, on t h e on e han d / o n t h e

o t h er hand, in con tr a s t, conver s ely,
bu t, ye t, on t h e con t r ary,
nev er t h eles s, none t h eles s, s till,
no t wit h s t anding, d e spi t e, s till,
al th ough, even t h ough, in spi t e of,
ins t e ad, r eg ar dles s

To sho w add ition and, in addi tion, also, fur t her m or e,

m or eover, be sides, nex t, again, t o o,
s e con d, t hird, ano t h er, finally
To ind icate tim e b efor e, now, af t er, af t erwards,
sub s e qu en tly, lat er, earlier,
m eanwhile, in t h e m e an tim e, while,
a s long as, so far, af t er a bi t, af t er a
few d ay s, af t er a while, a s so on a s,
a t las t , a t leng t h, a t ha t tim e,
b efor e, earlier, im m e dia t ely, in t h e
m ean tim e, in t h e pa s t, la t ely,
pr e s en tly, sh or tly, simult aneou sly,
since, t h en, t h er e af t er, un til, when

To give examples for exam ple, for ins t an c e,

s p ecifically, nam ely, t o illus tr a t e,
t h a t is, in par ticular, af t er all, ev en,
indeed, in fac t, of cour s e, such as,
t h e following exam ple

To generalize in gen er al, for t h e m o s t p ar t, a s a

g ener al rule, on t h e whole, u sually,
t ypically

To empha siz e a point indeed, in fac t, as m a t t er of fac t,

even

To sho w P lace abov e, adjacen t t o , b elow, bey ond,

clos er t o, elsewher e, far, far t h er on,
her e, near, nearby, opp o si t e t o,
t h er e, t o t h e lef t, t o t h e righ t

To sho w qua lificat ion freq u en tly, of t en, usually, in gen er al,
occa sionally, provid ed, in ca s e,
unless, when, since, b e cau s e, for, if
To signa l con cession of cour s e, na t ur ally, al thou gh i t is
t r u e t ha t, gran t e d t ha t , I ad mi t t ha t ,
it m ay app ear t h a t,
al th ough, t ho ugh, no dou b t, t o be
sur e, wher ea s, of cour se, doub tles s,
c er t ainly

To conclude or summariz e in co nclusion, t o con clud e, in

sum m ary, t o sum m arize, in sh or t, in
o t h er word s, t her ef or e, t hu s, in
reality, a s a r e sul t, as h a s b e en
no t e d, a s I have said, as we h ave
s e en, a s m en tion ed earlier, in any
even t, on t h e wh ole, t her ef or e