Expressing sequence and time:

1. First First, we woke up early.

2. At First At first, we prepared some coffee
3. Firstly Firstly, we prepared some coffee
4. First of all First of all, we prepared some coffee
5. To begin with To begin with, we prepared some coffee
6. In the first place In the first place, we prepared some coffee
7. At the beginning Prepositional phrases almost always come at the beginning of a sentence.”
8. In the beginning “In The Beginning” refers to a period of time, rather than a specific physical place
or moment in time. In the beginning of the story, our hero has not yet discovered the hidden cave

9. Secondly Secondly, we closed the windows

10. Thirdly Thirdly, we we lit the fireplace
11. Later Later suggests an interval of time between both actions. Afterwards and then can be used
when there is an interval of time or when the second action takes place immediately after the first one.
There was an explosion. Afterwards/Then, everything was quiet.
She had a shower. Later/Afterwards/Then, she went for a walk
12. Next Next year, the company is launching a new marketing strategy for the product
Their anniversary is next month
13. Then Then, we drank coffee and ate breakfast
14. After After, we found where our hiking trail begins
We can’t play loud music after everyone has gone to bed (Preposition)
15. After that We found a spot in the busy parking lot. After that, we prepared to start our hike
16. Afterwards Shortly afterwards, police arrested four suspects
Some people do first, think afterwards, and then repent for ever.
17. Since from a specific point in time until now .He’s been working at the company since 2016
18. For I have lived in Spain for 7 years now
19. While We use while to show that actions or events happen at the same time in the past, present or
future. I fell asleep while he was talking
20. When She was in a bad car accident when she was young
21. Whenever Whenever it rains, my mum bakes a cake
22. Meanwhile I fell asleep meanwhile he was talking
23. Immediately Almost immediately, he hit the brakes.
24. Once Once I finish breakfast, I read the newspaper
25. Suddenly Suddenly, I found myself lost
26. All of a sudden All of a sudden, I found myself lost
27. By the time By the time we arrived to the party, all of the guests had already left!
28. Last I completed my degree in psychology last year
Last Friday, I went to the movies. I saw Black Panther
29. As I bumped into her as I came out of the bank
30. As soon as I’ll wash the dishes as soon as we finish eating
31. No sooner … than No sooner did she read the telegram than she fainted.
32. Before (preposition) indicates what happened at an earlier time Brush your teeth before going to
bed!
33. Before (that) (preposition) indicates what happened earlier than an already stated event, implied by
that Once we were sure we had everything, we packed it all into our backpacks. Before that, we checked
the map to confirm that we were starting on the right trail
 34. During (preposition) She exercises everyday during the week
It started to rain during the picnic
35. Prior to (=before) I lived in Japan prior to living in Spain
36. Subsequently (posterioirmente) Subsequently, I go home
37. Now that Now that I am on holidays, I don’t study

38. Finally indicates that something happened last in a process. Finally, we started our hike at 10
AM!
39. Eventually Eventually we found him
40. At last At last we found him
41. Last but not least After the success of his first book, the author thanked his publisher, editor,
and, last but not the least, his family
42. In the end In the end we found him
43. Until He’ll stay at the concert until he gets tired
44. Till He’ll stay at the concert till he gets tired

Linked Together Paragraph:

First, we woke up early. Then, we drank coffee and ate breakfast. Next, we drove our car to the National Park.
After, we found where our hiking trail begins. We found a spot in the busy parking lot. After that, we prepared
to start our hike. Before starting the hike, we made sure that we had all of the food, water, and gear to hike
safely! Once we were sure we had everything, we packed it all into our backpacks. Before that, we checked the
map to confirm that we were starting on the right trail. Finally, we started our hike at 10 AM!

Read carefully the following notes

Do not use one of the above expressions if you’re no completely sure of their use!

*Note that we never say last day. When talking about the previous day, say yesterday

This - used to talk about the time remaining in a day, week, year, etc. We’re going to get coffee this afternoon.

*Note that we almost never say yesterday night. It’s much more common to say last night!

Warning:
We don’t use will after conjunctions referring to future time:
When people walk into the room, they will feel something special.
Not: When people will walk into the room…
I will call you as soon as I get to the office.
Not: … as soon as I will get to the office.
Warning:
We don’t use during instead of while. During is a preposition, not a conjunction, and it must be followed by a noun
or a pronoun:
I like to have the radio on while I study.
Not: I like to have the radio on during I study.
Many of these time conjunctions can be followed by -ing or -ed forms instead of subject + verb.
When, once, as soon as
We can use when, once, as and as soon as to talk about a specific point in time when something happened or will
happen:
When we were in Greece, we went to as many islands as possible.
They always close their curtains once they get home in the evening.
As soon as we hear any news, we’ll call you.

Before, after and until

We use before and after to talk about the order of events in the past or future. With before and after, either the
main clause or the subordinate clause can come first:
[event 1]She’ll pick you up before [event 2]she comes here.
After [event 1]she comes here, [event 2]she’ll pick you up.
Until as a time conjunction means up to a time in the past or future. In the case of until, the main clause usually
comes first:
I’m going to wait until the January sales start to buy a new jacket.
Until he mentioned his name was Doug, I thought he was called Damien! (less common order)
We spell until with one l. (Not: untill)

When VS Whenever
Rule 1 – If an event is unique or its date or time is known, use when.

Examples:
The game will begin Friday evening when the clock strikes seven.
When I told you I wanted a vacation, I meant a cabana by the beach, not a ticket to the Super Bowl!
She loved to play baseball with the neighborhood kids when she was a youngster.

Rule 2 – Whenever is best used for repeated events or events whose date or time is uncertain. If you can
substitute every time that or at whatever time that in your sentence, then whenever is preferred.

Examples:
Whenever I get in the shower, the phone rings.
Whenever you decide to begin eating healthier foods, I’ll help you come up with new recipes.

Note: When can often substitute for whenever but generally not the other way around. The exception is
using whenever as an intensive form of when in questions: Whenever will that dog stop barking?

Examples:
Correct:
When I get in the shower, the phone rings. (When is acceptable but whenever is preferred for conveying the
meaning every time that.)
When you decide to begin eating healthier foods, I’ll help you come up with new recipes. (When is acceptable
but whenever is preferred for conveying the meaning at whatever time that.)
Whenever are you going to finish cleaning the garage? (intensive form in a question)

Incorrect:
The game will begin Friday evening whenever the clock strikes seven.