Word of Connection

Word of Connection
To sum up, linking devices, in my view, serve to raise the standard of
written as well as spoken English and support the fluency and
native-likeness of any verbal discourse. (Irena Hulková)

Linking words are essential for your writing to be natural and clear. (Viv
Quarry)

Cohesive devices are crucial in writing, for they turn separate clauses,
sentences, and paragraphs into connected prose, signalling the
relationships between ideas, and making obvious the thread of meaning the
writer is trying to communicate. (Vivian Zamel)

... they can help to make clear the structure of what is being said; they
can indicate what speakers think about what they are saying or what others
have said. (Michael Swan)

The most frequent words of connection are:

INTRODUCTION AND REFERENCE
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| First of all, ... / In the first place, ... / To begin with, ... / |
| Initially ... / To start with ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Regarding ... / With regard to ... / Concerning ... / Considering ... / |
| By the way ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Changing the subject ... / On the other hand ... / Speaking of ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


CHANGE OF SUBJECT
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| By the way, ... / Speaking of that, ... / Incidentally ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


REINFORCEMENT COMMENT
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| As a matter of fact ... / In fact ... / On the contrary ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


AGREEMENT
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| According to ... / In accordance with ... / In conformity ... / As per |
| ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


EMPHASIS
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Especially ... / Mainly ... / In particular ... / More important .../ |
| More important(ly) ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Above all ... / A key feature ... / A major concern ... / Definitely ... |
| / Especially (not) .. |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Even more ... / In any event .../ Indeed .../ In particular ... / |
| Least of all ... / Mainly ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Most important(ly) ... / Most of all ... / Naturally ... / Particularly |
| ... / Positively ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Primarily ... / Principally ... / Specifically ... / Especially |
| significant ... / Let alone ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| The basic cause ... / The chief factor ... / The key point .../ |
| Unquestionably ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Valuable to note ... / Without a doubt ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


CONCLUSION
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Therefore, ... / So, ... / For this reason ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


PURPOSE
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| In order to ... / In order that … So that ... / In an effort to ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| In return for ... / So as to ... / So that ... / To ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| To the purpose of ... / To this end ... / With this in mind ... / With |
| this purpose ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


PROJECTING THE PRESENT INTO THE FUTURE
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| From now on ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


SCANNING THE PAST INTO THE PRESENT
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| So far ... / Up till now ... / Still ... / ... not ... yet. |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


INDICATING PERIODS IN THE PRESENT
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| For the time being ... / ... for some time. |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


SIMULTANEITY
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| In the meantime, ... / Meanwhile, ... / While (during the time) ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


TIME RELATIONSHIP
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| After a while ... / Afterward(s) ... / As time goes by ... / At last ... |
| / At present ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| At this point ... / Currently ... / From now on ... / Immediately ... / |
| In the meantime ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Lately ... / Later ... / Meanwhile ... / Now ... / Nowadays ... / |
| Presently ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Shortly (after) ... / Simultaneously ... / Since ... / So far ... / Soon |
| ... / Temporarily ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Then ... / Thereafter ... / Throughout ... / Thereupon ... / Until ,,, / |
| Up until now ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| While ... / Yet at the same time ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


INDICATING THE ADDRESSEE
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| To whom it may concern ... / For your information, ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


RELIABILITY LIMITERS
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| As far as I know, ... / As far as I can tell, ... / To the best of my |
| knowledge, ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| If I'm not wrong ... / In my opinion, ... / In my view ... / From my |
| point of view ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


POSITION DEFINERS
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| From the standpoint of ... / From my standpoint ... / Based on the |
| assumption that ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


ASSURANCE
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Of course ... / For sure ... / Definitely ... / Certainly ... / Without |
| a doubt ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


EQUIVALENCE
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| In the same way that ... / By the same token ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


CONTRAST
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| While ... / Whereas ... / By contrast ... / But ... / However, ... / |
| ... , though |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Even so ... / Nevertheless, ... / Still, ... / In spite of ... / |
| Despite ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Although ... / Even though ... / Even if ... / Unlike ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| (On the one hand, ...) On the other hand, ... / Conversely ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


REITERATING, GIVING DETAILS
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| In other words, ... / What I'm trying to say ... / I mean ... / That |
| is, ... / i.e., ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


INDICATING METAPHORICAL LANGUAGE
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| ... so to speak / ... if you will / ... if you like / ... like ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


ADDITION
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Again ... / Also ... / and (then) ... / As well as ... / At the same |
| time ... / Besides ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| both ... and / either ... or / Equally important ... / Further ... / |
| Furthermore ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| in addition (to) ... / Indeed ... / Jointly ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Last but not least ... / Likewise ... / Moreover ... / Neither ... nor |
| / Next ... / Not only |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| But also ... / Not to mention ... / Not to speak of ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| On top of that .../ Or ... / Plus ... / Similarly ... / Together with |
| ... / What's more ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


CAUSE
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Because ... / Since ... / With this in mind, ... / For this reason ... |
| / That's why ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| As a result of ... / Due to ... / In order that ... / Now that ... / On |
| account of ... / Since |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| That is because ... / That is why ... / In view of ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


CONDITION
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| If ... / As long as ... / On condition that ... / Provided (that) ... / |
| Even if ... / If not ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| In case of ... / In case (that) ... / In the event of ... / In the |
| event (that) ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| On condition that ... / Only if ... / or (else) ... / Otherwise ... / |
| Providing (that) ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Whether or not ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


RESULT / CONSEQUENCE
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| This way ... / In doing so ... / For this reason ... / As a consequence |
| ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| So that ... / As a result, ... / Accordingly ... / Consequently ... / |
| For which reason ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| In face of ... / In view of ... / Hence ... / In short ... / So much |
| (so) that ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Such ... that / Then ... / Thereby ... / Therefore ... / Thus ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


DEFINING CIRCUMSTANCES
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| As a last resort ... / As a rule ... / From the standpoint of ... / In |
| my opinion ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| In terms of ... / In the midst of ... / On the part of ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


EXCLUSION / EXCEPTION
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| As far as I'm concerned, ... / Apart from (that) ... / Aside from ... / |
| Except for ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Not ... yet / Other than that ... / Unless ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


DISMISSAL
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Anyway ... / At any rate ... / In any case ... / Whatever the case may |
| be ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


EXAMPLE
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| For example ... / For instance ... / In another case ... / Including |
| ... / In particular ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| In this case ... / In this manner ... / Namely ... / Such as ... / Take |
| the case of ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| That is ... / The following example ... / To illustrate ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


SUBSTITUTION
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| In place of ... / Instead of ... / Or rather ... / In exchange for |
| ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


REITERATION / REFORMULATION
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| As I have said ... / I mean ... / In other words ... / More simply ... |
| / Rather ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| That is ... / To put it another way ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


INTERMEDIATING
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| By ... / By means of ... / In doing so ... / This way ... / Through |
| (which) ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


CONCESSION
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| After all ... / Although it is true that ... / Although this may be |
| true ... / Naturally ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| At the same time ... / Granted that ... / I admit ... / It may appear |
| that ... / Of course |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


EVIDENCE
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| As you (anyone) can see ... / Certainly ... / Evidently ... / Indeed |
| ... / It's no wonder |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Naturally ... / Needless to say ... / Obviously ... / Of course ... / |
| Without question ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Without a doubt ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


CONCLUSION / SUMMARY
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| After all ... / All in all ... / All things considered ... / As we have |
| seen ... / At last ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Finally ... / In brief ... / In conclusion ... / In short ... / In |
| summary ... / Last(ly) ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| On the whole ... / Overall ... / Therefore ... / To conclude ... / To |
| summarize ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| To sum up ... / So ... / For this reason ... |
| |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|