LINKING WORDS / PHRASES

  We can use words or short phrases called linkers which help to guide readers through our writing, and to link ideas, sentences, paragraphs or sections. They are used to develop coherence within the paragraphs or sections by linking one idea to another. Here is a list of words and phrases that can be used in writing.

To express personal opinion: In my opinion, / In my view, / To my mind, / To my way of thinking, / Personally I believe that /I feel very strongly that / It seems to me that / As far as I am concerned /

e.g. I think that the world would be a much better place without nuclear power.

To introduce and list advantages: One advantage of / Another advantage of / A further advantage of / The main advantage of /

e.g. The first advantage of travelling to work by bicycle is that it is cheap; you don't have to pay for fuel.

To introduce and list disadvantages: One disadvantage of / Another disadvantage of / A further disadvantage of / The main disadvantage of /

e.g. The first disadvantage of travelling to work by bicycle is that you have no protection from the wind or rain.

To list points: Firstly, / First of all, / In the first place, / Secondly, / Thirdly, / Finally, /

e.g. To start with, people who live in the country suffer far fewer health problems than those who live in the city.

To list points in a specific sequence/order:

BEGINNING - First, / To start with, / To begin with,/

e.g. First of all, wash the wound with cold water.

CONTINUING - Secondly, / After this/that, / Afterwards, / Then, /

e.g. Next, wrap a bandage around the cut.

CONCLUDING - Finally, / Lastly, /

e.g. Last but not least, place the patients in a comfortable position and allow them to rest.

To add more points on the same topic: What is more, / Furthermore, / Apart from this/that, / In addition (to this), / Moreover, / Besides, /

e.g. ..... not to mention the fact that cars are extremely expensive to maintain.

- Cars are also extremely expensive to maintain.

- Cars are extremely expensive to maintain too.

- Not only are cars harmful to the environment, but they are extremely expensive to maintain as well.

- Cars are both harmful to the environment and expensive to maintain.

To give examples:

e.g. For instance, / For example, by reducing your intake of red meat you can decrease your chances of having a heart attack in later life.

- By reducing your intake of foods such as / like beef and lamb you can decrease your chances of having a heart attack in later life.

- If you want to decrease your chances of having a heart attack in later life, you should reduce your intake of meat, particularly / in particular / especially red meat.

To state other people's opinion: It is popularly believed that / People often claim that / Some people argue that / A lot of people think that /

e.g. A lot of people believe that the earth is the only planet in our solar system that has ever supported life.

To make contrasting points:

e.g. It is a known fact that smoking causes cancer; yet / however, / nevertheless, / but / at the same time / even so, / still, / nonetheless, millions of people around the world continue to smoke.

- Although / Even though / In spite of the fact that / Despite the fact that / While it is a known fact that smoking causes cancer, millions of people around the world continue to smoke.

To express balance (the other side of the argument):

e.g. Dogs are good pets in that they provide companionship; however, / but / on the other hand, / yet, feeding and grooming a dog can be expensive and time-consuming.

To conclude: All in all, / Taking everything into account, / On the whole, / All things considered, / In conclusion, / In summary, / To finish, / As I have said / As was previously stated, /

e.g. To sum up, it is unlikely that mankind will ever bring an end to all wars.

Time:

e.g. Press the button when / whenever / before / until  / till / after the light comes on.

- I haven't seen him since June.

- I saw him as I was leaving the shop./I saw him while I was doing my shopping.

- I never see him now that he lives in Canada.

Relatives:

e.g. That's the man who/that gave me the bag.

- That's the man whose bag it is.

- That's the dog which/that bit me.

- That's the place where I live.

- That's the woman who/whom/that I live with.

To express condition:

e.g. I told him that he could borrow my car on the condition that / provided (that) /providing (that) / only if / as long as he didn't drive it too fast.

- Take an umbrella in case of rain/in case it rains.

- He asked me whether (or not) I wanted to go.

- You had better lock all the doors otherwise/or (else) you will be in trouble.

To express result/effect:

e.g. He passed his exams; thus, / therefore, / so / consequently, / as a result, / as a consequence, /for this reason, he was able to go to university.

- It was so cold that we decided to light a fire.

To express purpose:

e.g. The government decided not to introduce the death penalty for fear (that) innocent people would die.

- The government decided not to introduce the death penalty so that innocent people would not die.

- The government decided not to introduce the death penalty so as to / in order to avoid the deaths of innocent people.

- The government decided not to introduce the death penalty in case it resulted in the death of innocent people.

Summarising: In short / Briefly /To put it briefly, the film was the best I've ever seen.