Words to help you signal transitions between words.

On page 95 of our text, Expressways, the authors offer a set of frequently used transition words. Unlike the Academic Word List (AWL) below, we use words to help use move from one idea, sentence, or paragraph to another.

If you want to arrange your ideas using time, here are some words you can use:

first, next, during, eventually, finally, later, meanwhile, soon, when, then, suddenly, currently, after, afterward, before, now, until, before

If you want to use where things physically appear, here are some useful words:

above, below, behind, in front of, beside, next to, inside, outside, to the west (north, etc.) of, beneath, nearby, on the other side of

If you want to show a movement from least to most, here are some words you can use:

most, above all, especially, even more, most important, most importantly, essential

If you want to arrange your ideas using numbers, here are some important words:

first, second, third...and, finally OR one, two, three, last

If you want to show cause and effect, here are some useful words:

because, due to, one cause is, another cause is, since, for , first, second OR consequently, for this reason, as a result, thus, resulted in, one result is, another is, therefore, hence, thus

To show similarities: likewise, similarly, in the same way, too, also
To show differences: however, on the contrary, unlike, on the other hand

To indicate the use of an example: for example, for instance, to illustrate, in one case