Sentence Connectors

‘Connectors’ are used to link large groups of words: phrases and sentences. You can also use them to connect paragraphs to give them coherence. Sentence connectors are usually placed at the beginning of a sentence and may be categorized as follows:

CONTRAST

1. HOWEVER

·         This restaurant has the best kitchen in town. However, the staff is quite rude.

2. IN CONTRAST

·         House prices have gone up this year. In contrast, car prices seem to be stagnating.

3. NEVERTHELESS

·         I was in so much pain I didn’t want to get up in the morning. Nevertheless, I went to football practice as usual.

4. NONETHELESS

·         I don’t think Sean has serious behavioral problems. Nonetheless, I’ll talk to him first thing in the morning.

5. YET

·         I’ve asked you a thousand times not to leave your dirty socks on the floor. Yet, you keep doing it.

6. ON THE OTHER HAND

·         England has the best language schools. On the other hand, it has the worst weather.

7. BY COMPARISON

·         Going out with Jim has its risks. By comparison, being with Tim is as easy as falling off a log.

8. ON THE CONTRARY

·         I don’t hate Jim. On the contrary, I’m rather fond of him.

9. INSTEAD

·         I didn’t want to take a side in the argument. Instead, I put my headphones on and listened to some smooth jazz.

10. IN ANY CASE

·         I was thinking of going round Jim’s place. In any case, I haven’t been invited.

11. ALL THE SAME

·         Yes, he’s very good-looking. All the same, I don’t think you should go out with him.

SIMILARITY

1. LIKEWISE

·         You can’t give your phone number to every man who asks for it. Likewise, you can’t go out with everyone who fancies you.

2. SIMILARLY

·         You’re not allowed to use your phone here. Similarly, you have to switch it off when you’re in the library.

3. CORRESPONDINGLY

·         She’s an excellent photographer. Correspondingly, her paintings are works of art.

4. IN THE SAME WAY

·         Cutting down on sugar will help you lose weight. In the same way, doing more exercise will help you get rid of a few kilos.

5. ALSO

·         I want to talk to Prince Harry when I’m in England. Also, I want to meet his sister-in-law.

RESULT

1. AS A RESULT

·         I’ve done a panic-healing course. As a result, I’ve been able to cure my neighbor’s sick cat.

2. AS A CONSEQUENCE

·         Zack has skipped school on many occasions. As a consequence, he’s failed his French test.

3. THEREFORE

·         We’re going to experience some meteor showers in the next few days. Therefore, the number of miraculous self-healing will rise.

4. THUS

·         You didn’t tell me you wanted to come. Thus, we won’t be taking you with us.

5. ACCORDINGLY

·         Plenty of tourists visit the area in summer. Accordingly, selling hand-made objects is the main source of income for locals.

SEQUENCING

1. FIRST, FIRSTLY, FIRST OF ALL, IN THE FIRST PLACE

·         First of all, I’d like to talk about the benefits of having a pet pig.

2. TO BEGIN WITH

·         To begin with, pet pigs are cleaner than dogs.

3. FOR ONE THING

·         For one thing, they’re completely loyal to their owners.

4. SECOND, SECONDLY, IN THE SECOND PLACE

·         Secondly, their impressive numeracy skills must be mentioned.

5. FOR ANOTHER THING

·         For another thing, you might want to consider how cute they look in pajamas.

6. THIRD, THIRDLY, IN THE THIRD PLACE

·         In the third place, you can always count on your pet pig to perform some tricks for you when you’d like to impress a pretty girl.

7. ALSO

·         Also, they don’t eat much.

8. BESIDES

·         Besides not eating much, they won’t ever chew on your electric cords.

9. IN ADDITION

·         In addition, they can be taught to feed themselves if you allow them access to your pantry.

10. FURTHERMORE

·         Furthermore, they make wonderful walking buddies.

11. MOREOVER

·         Moreover, they’ll show you the way home when you’re drunk.

12. FINALLY

·         Finally, pet pigs are fantastic guards. No burglar would ever have the heart to hurt a pet pig.

13. LAST, LASTLY, LAST OF ALL

·         Lastly, your reputation as an eccentric will rapidly grow in the neighbourhood, if you’re seen walking a pet pig on a leash every morning.

ORDER OF IMPORTANCE

1. MOST IMPORTANTLY

·         I’d like to talk to you about how to keep calm at your workplace. Most importantly, never go to the canteen while your boss is there.

2. PRIMARILY

·         You’ll have to focus on your immediate surroundings. Primarily, on your computer screen.

3. ABOVE ALL

·         Above all, don’t ever look up from your notes when people are around.

4. MOST SIGNIFICANTLY

·         Most significantly, avoid eye-contact at all costs.

5. ESSENTIALLY, BASICALLY (usually spoken)

·         How can I put this? Essentially, having an affair with one of your colleagues should be the last thing on your mind.

PARTICULARIZATION

1. IN PARTICULAR, PARTICULARLY

·         Nearly a third of marriages end in divorce. In particular, it’s middle-aged couples that yearn for much more from life.

2. MORE SPECIFICALLY

·         Couples tend to argue about financial issues. More specifically, they argue when one of them is out of work.

EXAMPLIFICATION

1. FOR EXAMPLE

·         To solve this problem, you might want to try making small gestures. For example, making your spouse’s favorite meal for dinner or giving him a massage after a tiring day.

2. FOR INSTANCE

·         Appreciate the small things your spouse does for you. For instance, leave thank-you notes for them every now and then.

3. TO ILLUSTRATE

·         Misunderstandings can be highly destructive. To illustrate, if your spouse sees you with a friend of the opposite sex in a café, he might not understand why he hasn’t been invited and demand an explanation.

EXPLANATION

1. THAT IS TO SAY, THAT IS

·         Keep the romance alive. That is to say, don’t let your love life fall into a routine.

2. NAMELY

·         I have a very good reason for not trusting my ex. Namely, he’s a convicted felon.

3. IN OTHER WORDS

·         Don’t be unsociable. In other words, go out and make some friends.

4. PUT DIFFERENTLY

·         John has managed to get over Jane. Put differently, he’s started seeing other women. 

EMPHASISING

1. AS A MATTER OF FACT

·         I love sleeping with my pet pig. As a matter of fact, I can’t fall asleep unless he’s in my bed.

2. IN FACT

·         I told them not to invite Rachel to the party. In fact, I was the only person who saw what a party pooper she really was.

3. ACTUALLY

·         I think it would be a good idea to send her some flowers. Actually, you should get her a hundred orchids.

4. INDEED

·         He may be the best-dressed man around. Indeed, he has a really good taste in fashion.

FOCUSING AND LINKING

1. AS FOR (often suggests disinterest or dislike)

·         I’m going to Janet’s party on the weekend. As for Mary’s, I think I’ll pass.

2. WITH RESPECT TO

·         Starting your own IT company may be one of the best things you can do right now. With respect to opening a pet shop, it’s hard to say the same thing.

3. REGARDING

·         Start your day by making the most important phone calls. Regarding emails, you might put them off until later.

4. WITH REGARD TO

·         With regard to handling complaints, you might want to keep in mind that your customers are always right.

5. AS REGARDS

·         Working from home has many advantages. As regards disadvantages, it might be difficult to keep your cat off your keyboard.

6. TALKING OF

·         Talking of cats, you can’t trust them to keep you company when you need it. They’re quite selfish creatures.

7. AS FAR AS … CONCERNED

·         As far as dogs are concerned, they might give you a chance to get up from your desk and get some exercise during the day.

CONCLUSION

1. IN CONCLUSION

·         In conclusion, it may be said that pigs make the best pets.

2. IN BRIEF

·         Meeting my boss at the pub was an interesting experience. In brief, it was a disaster.

3. IN SUMMARY

·         In summary, it may not be the best idea to frequent the same pubs as your boss.

4. TO SUM UP

·         To sum up, some people are better suited to working from home than others.

5. ALL IN ALL

·         All in all, you have to make sure both you and your customers are satisfied with your work.

CORRECTION

1. RATHER

·         I thought it was a good idea to get a ferret. Rather, it had always been my dream to get one.

2. TO BE MORE PRECISE

·         You might want to change a few things. To be more precise, I think you should start again from scratch.

TIME

1. AT FIRST

·         It wasn’t a piece of cake to learn English. At first, I couldn’t pronounce all the words correctly.

2. THEN

·         Then, I couldn’t spell all the words correctly.

3. Afterwards

·         Afterwards, I had a hard time understanding tenses.

4. LATER

·         Later, I couldn’t memorize phrasal verbs and idioms.

5. IN THE MEANTIME

·         In the meantime, I was getting some help from MyEnglishTeacher.

6. MEANWHILE

·         Meanwhile, I was enjoying my skype lessons more and more.

DISMISSAL (of what was said before)

1. ANYWAY

·         I couldn’t get my head around the Passive Voice. Anyway, I don’t think it’s important to use it all the time.

2. ANYHOW

·         Anyhow, I’ve just decided to learn Russian next.

3. AT ANY RATE

·         At any rate, I don’t want to become a simultaneous interpreter in five languages.