Transitions
Estimated Time: 15 minutes
At the end of the lesson, you will understand how to use transition words in your writing.
What Are Transition Words and How Can I Use Them to Improve My Writing?
In Lesson 2 of this week, you learned about writing coherent paragraphs and that for your writing to flow, you must present your ideas in a logical order with transitions between those ideas. Transitions create a link between two or more ideas.
In the following video, you’ll learn some transitional words and phrases to use depending on the type of relationship between your ideas. You can find the presentation in the video here.
Knowing how to use transitions in a paragraph or essay effectively is key to a well-structured paper. What are transitions? Transitional words and phrases show the relationships between the parts of a sentence, between the sentences in a paragraph, or between the paragraphs in an essay.
Although transitional words and phrases mean little by themselves, they are very important in linking your ideas together smoothly and logically so that your paragraphs have coherence. They can be divided into categories according to the kind of relationship you as a writer are trying to show. There are eight basic categories:
- To show time: when, since, after
- To show place: wherever, where
- To add an idea: in addition, additionally
- To illustrate or explain an idea: for instance/example
- To compare or contrast ideas: in comparison/contrast
- To show a result: as a result, hence
- To summarize an idea: to sum up
Remember, transitions are like bridges — they link one thing with another. They can be used to go forward (on to the next sentence or paragraph) or to go backward (to refer to something that has just been stated).
If you understand the usage of transition words and phrases, you are on the way to achieve coherence. Keep in mind that your paragraphs can be unified (stick to the topic sentence and the thesis statement) yet still lack coherence (sounding mechanical and stiff).
Apart from thinking of the function of transitions, you also need to consider how they can fit into a sentence grammatically. Some transitions can be followed by a subject and verb, while others only by a noun.
There are four main grammatical categories of transitions:
- Coordinating conjunctions – and, but, so – they connect two independent clauses.
- Subordinating conjunctions – because, if, when – they help attach a dependent clause to independent.
- Conjunctive adverbs – however, additionally, consequently – they can start or end a clause, or even come in the middle of a clause.
- Prepositions – despite, because of, in spite of – they can be one/two/three-word units that are followed by a noun
As I mentioned earlier, transitions are essential writing tools, but be careful not to overuse them as this can be tedious for readers. It is often helpful to start by writing an outline of your essay to gain a clearer picture of how your various ideas are related; then, you can select transitions accordingly.
In addition to using transition signals, considering language registers, repeating key nouns and pronouns, a fifth way to achieve coherence is to arrange your sentences in some kind of logical order. Deciding on a logical order for the sentences in each paragraph of your essay is absolutely necessary.
If the sentences in a paragraph are written simply in random order, readers will probably be confused and unable to see how your ideas connect. A logical order helps the reader to follow the development of your ideas.
Lesson Recap
Transitions help us make ideas more logically connected. Use the following transitions to achieve each purpose:
- To compare or contrast ideas – however, in spite of, on the contrary
- To show a result – as a result, hence, consequently
- To emphasize an idea – above all, especially, in fact, critically, crucially
- To summarize an idea – as has been noted, in brief, in short
- To show chronology – afterward, at the same time, before, simultaneously
Extras
Check Yourself
Complete the task below to check your understanding of today’s lesson.