Essay Transition Words

Essay writing is a time-taking and demanding process. Students who want their essays to be highly rated by their professors should know that essay transition words and phrases constitute an essential part of any written paper. They are like glue, which holds the whole written text together. Transition words are very important in organizing your thoughts and joining sentences in order to create an informative, attention-grabbing and well-sounding essay.

Essay transition words should be paid special attention by students who want to be skillful in writing quality essays. If you are one of such students, the following tips may be of great help to you:

1. Transition words should never be used at the beginning of your essay.
2. It is recommended to insert a transition word between sentences that covey different thoughts in one and the same paragraph.
3. Transition words should not be applied to begin a paragraph. With this purpose, transition phrases may be used.

Some students underestimate the value of essay transition words and often do not consider them important. However, if you want your essay to make a good impression on your professor, you will hardly cope with the task successfully without using them.

It is undeniable that one of the main aspects that contributes to the success and quality of your essay is its content. Nonetheless, the way your ideas and facts are organized in the text is as important as its content. In this respect, transition words are indispensable, because they help to bring your thoughts together. If you do not know how to end up one though and start a new one, look through the following list of the most frequent essay transition words and you will definitely find a number of variants that will perfectly fit into your essay: also, consequently, therefore, rather, however, nonetheless, nevertheless, specifically, furthermore, hence, likewise, despite, although, additionally, primarily, eventually etc.

Essay transition words are subdivided into numerous groups depending on their meanings, which simplifies your choice. Thus, they may be used to:

• add information (“Cheating is dishonest. Moreover, it hinders students from learning”);
• give examples (“I like to travel. Specifically, I enjoy places with old cathedrals.”);
• show contrast (“I am not going out tonight. Instead, I will stay at home and relax”);
• demonstrate concession (“The doctor prescribed me reading glasses. Nevertheless, I don’t like the way I look in them”);
• show similarity (“Math was hard for me in high school. Likewise, it is hard in college”)
• show result (“Jake is ill. Therefore, he will not go to school today”)
• explain something (“The plan needed only two things to succeed—namely, time and money”)
• give an alternative (“We can go to the cinema, or we may stay at home”) etc.