Firstly,...
Autor: Ana Carolina de Souza | Publicado: 2011-08-08T01:18:00-03:00

Watching this episode of this famous tv show in the 90's, Blossom (I S2 it!), I came up with the ideia of writing about linking words. You'll understand the reason by watching this video, starting at the 50 seconds. Although the actress speaks like a "talking machine", you can clearly notice when she uses these connecting words.


Connecting words, linking words or transitions (whatever you wanna call it), are words or phrases, or even sentences,  that show the relationship between ideas. They signal to the reader (or the listener) the direction the writer (or speaker) is taking. They do this by connecting or linking ideas within a paragraph and providing a bridge between paragraphs.

Here are some of them (the most common ones), divided by categories, according to their functions:

Addition:
In addition, and, similarly, likewise, as well as, besides, further more, also, moreover, then, too, not only ..., but even, besides this/that, Nor.

E.g.
"The acceleration performance of this car is very poor; moreover, its fuel consumption is extremely high."

Sequence:
First(ly), First of all, initially, second(ly), etc., to begin with, then, next, earlier/later, after this/that, following this/that, afterwards.

E.g.
She won the party leadership last year. Afterwards, she won the election.

Consequence:
As a result, thus, so, therefore, consequently, it follows that, eventually, then, in that case.

E.g.
"The plane crash damaged the building, thus it collapsed."

Contrast:
However, on the other hand, despite, in spite of, though, although, but, on the contrary, otherwise, yet, instead of, rather, whereas, nonetheless, nevertheless, Unlike, even though, compared with, in contrast.

E.g.
He bought the car even though it was expensive.

Intensification:
Obviously, certainly, plainly, of course, undoubtedly, indeed, to repeat, by all means, undoubtedly, without doubt, yes,in fact, surely.

E.g.
To this observation there was, obviously, no answer.

Condition:
If, unless, whether, provided that for, so that, depending on.

E.g.
I really don't know wether I should go to the party or not.

Summary:
In conclusion, in summary, lastly, finally, to sum up, to conclude, to recapitulate, in short, summing up.

E.g.
And so, to sum up, my main points are as follows...

Example:
For instance, one example, for example, just as, in particular, such as, to illustrate.

E.g.
Jill would love to travel to several European cities such as London, Florence, and Athens.

Reason:
Since, as so, because (of), due to, owing to, the reason why, in other words, leads to cause, Due to / due to the fact that.

E.g.
I'm not going to the party tonight, since I don't have a dress.

Time:
Before, since as, until, meanwhile, at the moment, when, whenever, as soon as, just as, thereafter.

E.g.
As soon as she saw me, she came to me to say hi.

Moreover, to improve your writing (in essays, (scientific) reviews, (research) papers, letters, abstracts, reports, thesis, etc), it is essential to understand how, transition words can be used to combine ideas. These words all have different meanings, nuances, and connotations.

Why don't you start practicing it right now?

P.S. In case you remember any other transitional word  and want to share it here, be my guest! :)