Using Transitions Effectively

What do Transitions Do? Transitional words and phrases are also called signal words. They are placed at key
points to lead the reader through the sentences and paragraphs. Using transitional words will help you achieve clear
and coherent communication with your audience.
When writers connect sentences and paragraphs, they provide a sense of movement that allows their readers to
follow the main and subordinate ideas easily and, as a result, understand the writer’s purpose and message.
Clear transitions are essential to the coherence of paragraphs and essays. There are several types of
transitions, each leading the reader to make certain connections or assumptions about the areas you are connecting,
based on the words or phrases you choose. Some lead the reader forward and imply the "building" of an idea or
thought, while others make the reader compare ideas or draw conclusions from the preceding thoughts. A list of
common transitional words and phrases can be found on the back.

Transitions Between Paragraphs

When linking two paragraphs, the writer must explain how the two paragraphs are connected logically. Transitional
words or phrases sometimes will be precisely what you need to underscore for your readers the intellectual
relationship between paragraphs—to help them navigate your essay. Very often, such transitions:
 Address an essential similarity or dissimilarity (likewise, in contrast, despite, etc)
 Suggest a meaningful ordering, often temporal (first, in addition) or causal (thus, therefore)
 In a longer paper, remind the reader of what has earlier been argued (in short, as has been said, on the whole).

Tips for Transitioning

Since clarity and effectiveness of your transitions will depend greatly on how well you have organized your
paper, you may want to evaluate your paper’s organization before you work on transitions. In the margins of your
draft, summarize in a word or two what each paragraph is about or how it fits into your analysis as a whole. This
exercise should help you to see the order and connection between your ideas more clearly. If after doing this
exercise you find that you still have difficulty linking your ideas together in a coherent fashion, you problem may not
be with transitions but with organization. Perhaps something crucial is missing between this paragraph and it
neighbors—most likely an idea o a piece of evidence or both. Maybe the paragraph is misplaced, and logically belongs
elsewhere.

TRANSITIONS FOR PURPOSE  by now

 For this purpose  concurrently
 In order to  currently To Indicate CONTRAST
 To that end  immediately  a clear difference
 In order that  now  a distinct difference
 So that  presently  a striking distance
 To this end  right away  a strong distinction
 simultaneously  against
To Indicate TIME ORDER  until now  although
 earlier  henceforth  although this may be true
 former  hereafter  an opposing view
 formerly  in the future  and yet
 heretofore  another distinction
 after a long time
 in retrospect  balanced against
 after a short while
 in the past  but
 afterward
 not long ago  by contrast
 later on
 of late  contrarily
 not long after
 preceding  contrary to
 right after
 previously  conversely
 soon after
 prior to  counter to
 thereafter
 recently  despite
 yesterday  despite the fact that
 at present  different from
 at the same time  even though
 at this moment  for
 however  resembling
 in contrast  similarly
 in opposition to  synonymous
 nevertheless  the next likeness To Indicate SEQUENCE
 nonetheless  to the same extent  at first
 on the contrary  too  at the beginning
 on the other hand  uniformly  at the onset
 opposing  where  commencing with
 otherwise  whereas  earlier
 regardless To Indicate CAUSE & EFFECT  embark
 the antithesis of  accordingly  first
 the reverse of  as a consequence  from this point
 to differ from  as a result  in the first place
 to differentiate  as a result of  initially
 to oppose  because  once
 up against  because of this  once upon a time
 whereas  by reason of  starting with
 while  caused by  to begin with
 yet  consequently  after that
To Indicate COMPARISON  due to  following that
 after all  following that  immediately following
 along the same lines  for  in the second place
 also  for this purpose  in turn
 analogous to  for this reason  later on
 as compared with  furthermore  next
 as well as  hence  on the next occasion
 balanced against  henceforth  second /secondly
 by comparison  in conclusion  so far
 comparable  in effect  subsequently
 comparatively  in view of  the following week
 compared to  it follows that  the next day
 consistent with  on account of  the next time
 conversely  otherwise  the second stage
 correlate  owing to  twice
 correspondingly  so  in the third place
 equal  subsequently  last
 equally important  the end result  last of all
 equivalent  the outcome  third
 however  the ramifications of  at last
 identical  then  lastly
 in a similar fashion  thereafter  in the last place
 in comparison  therefore  the latter
 in contrast  thus  at the end
 in like manner  to this end  in the end
 in the same manner  accordingly  final
 in the same way  as a result  finally
 like  consequently  the final point
 likewise  hence  to conclude
 matching  it follows, then  in conclusion
 meanwhile  since
 nevertheless  so
 of little difference  then
 parallel to  therefore
 relative to  thus
 relatively
 resemble
To Indicate ADDITION  in this case  very likely
 after  without a doubt
 afterward  in This situation  without doubt
 again  in this specific instance  without question
 also  more exactly
To Indicate EXCEPTION
 and  namely
 despite
 and then  on this occasion
 however
 besides  specifically
 in spite of
 concurrently  such as
 nevertheless
 consequently  suppose that
 of course
 equally important  take the case of
 once in a while
 finally  that is
 sometimes
 following this  to be exact
 still
 further  to bring to light
 yet
 furthermore  to clarify
 to demonstrate To ELABORORATE
 hence
 to exemplify  actually
 in addition
 to explain  by extension
 in fact
 to illuminate  in short
 indeed
 to illustrate  in other words
 lastly
 to put another way  to put it another way
 moreover
 to show  to put it bluntly
 next
 to take a case in point  to put it succinctly
 nor
 to take a case in point  ultimately
 now
 previously TO EMPHASIZE/TENSIFY To CONCEDE
 simultaneously  above all  admittedly
 so too  actually  although it is true that
 subsequently  after all  granted
 therefore  certainly  I concede that
 thus  decidedly  of course
 too  definitely  naturally
 what's more  equally important  to be sure
 especially To SUMMARIZE or CONCLUDE
To Provide An EXAMPLE  furthermore  accordingly
 a case in point  in fact  as a result
 after all  increasingly important  as has been noted
 an analogy  indeed  as I have said
 analogous to  more emphatically  as I have shown
 another way  more important  consequently
 as an example  moreover  hence
 as an illustration  most important of all  in brief
 consider  most of all  in conclusion
 consider as an illustration  of great concern  on the whole
 for example  of major concern  on the whole
 for instance  primarily  summing up
 for instance  significantly  therefore
 for one thing  surely  thus
 in another case  the crux of the matter  to conclude
 in fact  the main issue  as a result
 in one example  the main problem  consequently
 in order to clarify  the major reason  hence
 in other words  there is no question that  in conclusion, then
 in particular  to be sure  in short
 in the following manner  to emphasize  in sum, then
 in the same manner  to recapitulate  it follows, then
 so One characteristic…
 the upshot of all this is that Another characteristic
 therefore One example…
 thus another example
 to sum up One kind… another kind
 to summarize TRANSITIONS FOR ARGUMENT One way… Another way
To Connect CLAUSES* OR PROOF On this occasion
COORDINATION Accordingly Point in fact
CONJUNCTIONS Admittedly Pursuing this further
 and Although Specifically
 but At this level Such as
 for Because Take the case of
 nor Besides That is to say
 or But Certainly The final type
 so Clearly, The most important component
 yet then Consequently The most important example… T
Despite he next example
Even so The next part
SUBORDINATING
Even though To add
CONJUNCTIONS
Evidently For To clarify
 after
For the same reason To demonstrate
 although
Furthermore To explain
 as
Granted To illustrate
 as if
However To put it another way
 as though
TRANSITIONS FOR To rephrase it
 because
EXEMPLIFICATION, What’s more
 before
 even ILLUSTRATION, ADDITION OR
 even if CLARIFICATION
 even though Additionally
 if Again
 in order that Also
 once And then
 rather than As an illustration
 since Besides
 so that Besides that
 than Case in point
 that Equally important
 though Finally
 unless First
 until Following this further
 when For example
 whenever For instance
 while Further
Furthermore
* NOTE: Conjunctions do more than Generally speaking i.e., (that is)
simply link and connect ideas. In addition
Conjunctions combine clauses In another case
which transitional words cannot do. In general
This is a significant difference In other words
between conjunctions and In particular
transitional words. In the same way
In this case In this situation
Like
More importantly
Moreover
Most importantly