USEFUL CONNECTORS AND EXPRESSIONS

1. CONNECTORS

CONTRAST

- but
- although/though
- in spite of/despite + noun
- however
- nevertheless
- on the other hand
- by contrast
- on the one hand...on the other hand
- in contrast to/with
- as opposed to
- on the contrary
- alternatively
- instead of
- the former...the latter
- conversely

ADDITION

- furthermore/moreover/in addition to
- as well as
- apart from this/that
- also
- besides
- additionally
- what is more
- on top of that

EXAMPLE

- one such example is

- such as
- in other words
- for example
- let me exemplify this concept by
- that is/that is to say
- one instance could be

SEQUENCE/TIME

- first of all
- first/firstly
- second/secondly
 - later/after that/afterwards
- then/next
- finally/in the end

TIME

- once
- after
- meanwhile/ in the meantime
- before rwxhing that stage
- prior to
- after that stage
- subsequently
- eventually
- eventually
- whenever
- while
- as soon as
- before
- until/till
- now that
- since
- for
- all of a sudden/suddenly

PURPOSE

- so that/ in order that

- in order to/so as to/to + infinitive

RESULT

- as a result (of)/consequently
- therefore
- for this/that reason
- so/that is why/because of this
- hence
- with this in mind
- on account of the fact
- bearing this in mind
- taking this into account
- thus

CAUSE

- because of/on account of

- owing to/due to
- as a result of
 - by virtue of
- thanks to
- following
- in view of/in the light of
- in the face of
- for fear of
- for the simple reason that
- given that
- caused by/brought about to

2. USEFUL EXPRESSIONS FOR ESSAY AND REPORT WRITING

TO PRESENT A TOPIC

- it is often said/asserted/claimed that

- it is universally acknowledged that
- it is a well-known fact that
- for the great majority of people
- a problem that is often debated nowadays is that of
- one of the most striking features/apects of this problem/issue/topic/question
- a number of key issues arise from
- first of all, let us try to understand
- by way of introduction
- what we are mainly concerned with here is

SEQUENCE OF IDEAS IN A PARAGRAPH

- this brings up the question of whether

- on the one hand... on the other
- as for
- incidentally, we must not forget
- as far as...is concerned
- added to that

TO EXPRESS PERSONAL OPINION

- I think/don’t think that

- I think it is probable that
- I believe that
- I agree/don’t agree that
- My own view of this is that
- speaking personally
- it seems to me that
- my personal opinion of
- I feel strongly that
- in my opinion
- in my view
 - for my part
- I maintain that
- My point of view is that
- from my point of view
- for me
- it seems to methat
- as I see it
- As I see it
- A lot of people claim that
- For me, the gist of the matter is that

TO EXPRESS POSSIBILITY AND PROBABILITY

- it is highly probable that

- there is a strong chance that
- it is reasonable to think that
- it stands to reason that
- it would appear.../it would seem that
- it is within the bounds of possibility that
- there is reason to believe that
- there are grounds for believing/for the belief that

TO EXPRESS COMPARISONS

- in comparison with/when compared with

- by comparison
- if you compare
- whereas/whilst
- in contrast to
- as opposed to
- the former...the latter
- there is some resemblance/similarity between
- it is greatly superior to
- it is much inferior to