BACCALAUREATE WRITING HINTS N' TIPS LINKING WORDS / TRANSITIONS/ USEFUL
PHRASES
LINKING WORDS / TRANSITIONS/ USEFUL PHRASES
Personal opinion
In my opinion, / In my view, / To my mind, / To my way of thinking, / Personally I believe that / It strikes me that / I Feel very strongly that / I am inclined to believe that / It seems to me that / As far as I am concerned, / I think that the world would be a much better place without nuclear power.
To list advantages and disadvantages
One advantage of / Another advantage o f / One other advantage of / A further advantage
of /The main advantage of / The greatest advantage of / The first advantage of travelling to work by bicycle is that it is cheap; you don't have to pay for fuel.
One disadvantage of / Another disadvantage of / One other disadvantage of / A further disadvantage of / The main disadvantage of / The greatest disadvantage of / The first disadvantage of travelling to work bicycle is that you have no protection from the wind or rain.
To list points
Firstly, / First of all, / In the first place, / Secondly, / Thirdly, / Finally, / To start with, people who live in the country suffer far fewer health problems than those who live in the city.
To list points in a specific sequence
BEGINNING - First, / To start with, / To begin with,/ First of all, wash the wound with cold water.
CONTINUING - Secondly, /After this / that, / Afterwards, / Then, / Next, wrap a bandage around the cut.
CONCLUDING - Finally, / Lastly, / Last but not least, place the patient in a comfortable position and allow them to rest.
To add more points on the same topic
What’s more,/ Furthermore, /Apart from this/that, / In addition (to this), / Moreover, / Besides (this), /... not to mention the fact that cars are extremely expensive to maintain,
Cars are also extremely expensive to maintain.
Cars are extremely expensive to maintain too.
Not only are cars harmful to the environment, but they are extremely expensive to maintain as well.
Cars are both harmful to the environment and expensive to maintain.
To refer to other sources
With reference to / According to the article in yesterday's Guardian, the
unemployment rate is falling in Britain.
To express cause
The government decided not to fund the scheme because / owing to the fact that / due to the fact that / on the grounds that / since / as it seemed likely to fail.
In view of / Because of/ Owing to the scheme's high chances of failure, the government decided not to fund it.
The scheme is likely to fail; for this reason the government has decided not to fund it.
Seeing that the scheme is likely to fail, the government has decided not to fund it.
The government has decided to fund the scheme now that its planners have redesigned it.
To express effect
He passed his exams; thus, / therefore, / so / consequently, / as a result, / as a consequence, / for this reason, he was able to go to university.
To express purpose
The government decided not to introduce the death penalty for fear (that) innocent people would die.
The government decided not to introduce the death penalty so that innocent people would not die.
The government decided not to introduce the death penalty so as to / in order to avoid the deaths of innocent people.
The government decided not to introduce the death penalty in case it resulted in the death of innocent people.
To emphasise what you say
Clearly, / Obviously, / Of course, / Needless to say, if everyone were allowed to carry a gun, the crime rate would rise considerably.
To express reality It is a fact that / In effect, / In fact, / As a matter of fact, / The fact of the
matter is (that) / Actually, / In practice, / Indeed, / To tell you the truth, a crash helmet would be quite useless in the event of a serious motorcycle accident.
To express the difference between appearance and reality
Initially, /At first, / At first sight, his injuries seemed minor, but when the doctors examined him, they discovered he had fractured his skull.
To give examples
For instance, / For example, by reducing your intake of red meat you can decrease your chances of having a heart attack in later life.
By reducing your intake of foods such as / like beef and lamb you can decrease your chances of having a heart attack in later life.
If you want to decrease your chances of having a heart attack in later life, you should reduce your intake of meat, particularly / in particular, / especially red meat.
To make general statements
As a general rule, / Generally, / In general, / On the whole, people who exercise regularly suffer fewer stress-related problems than those who don’t
To make partially correct statements
Up to a point, / To a certain extent, / To some extent, / In a sense, / In a way, this is true as women in society are far less likely to use physical violence than men.
To express limit of knowledge
To the best of my knowledge, / As far as I know, there is no firm proof of the
existence of aliens.
To state other people's opinion
It is popularly believed that / People often claim that / It is often alleged that / Some people argue that / Many argue that /A lot of people think that / A lot of people believe that the earth is the only planet in our solar System that has ever supported life. Contrary to popular belief the earth is not the only planet in our solar System to have supported life.
To make contrasting points
It is a known fact that smoking causes cancer, yet / however, / nevertheless, / but / at the same time / even so, / still, / nonetheless, millions of people around the world continue to smoke.
Although / Even though / Regardless of the fact that / In spite of the fact that / Despite the fact that / While it is a known fact that smoking causes cancer, millions of people around the world continue to smoke.
To express balance (the other side of the argument)
Dogs are good pets in that they provide companionship; however, / but / on the other hand, / although /yet, at the same time, / in contrast, feeding and grooming a dog can be expensive and time-consuming.
Negative addition
Neither the prime minister nor his deputy knew anything about the experiment.
Neither of them knew anything about the experiment.
The prime minister didn’t know anything about the experiment; nor / neither did his deputy.
The prime minister didn't know anything about the experiment and his deputy didn't either.
To express exception
He read all the books but / apart from / except (for) one: "Oliver Twist".
To clarify / rephrase
In other words / That is to say, / To put it another way, if people made more of an effort to protect the environment, the world would be a much healthier place to live in.
To express similarity
Alcohol reduces our ability to concentrate on our work; similarly,/likewise/in
the same way, it reduces our ability to concentrate while driving.
To give an alternative
We could switch to (either) solar power or wind power.
We could switch to solar power. On the other hand/Alternatively, wind power is also an environmentally friendly option.
To express condition
I told him that he could borrow my car on the condition that /provided (that) / providing (that) / only if/ as long as he didn’t drive it too fast.
In the event of trouble, / In the event that trouble should start, / If trouble
should start, lock all the doors and Windows.
Take an umbrella in case of rain/in case it rains.
He asked me whether (or not) I wanted to go.
You had better lock all the doors otherwise/or (else) you will be in trouble.
To express the consequence of a condition
The company is hoping for a government loan; consequently /then / so / in which case, it will be able to provide fifty new jobs.
I'm hoping the club will be open tonight; if so, we'll have a great time, if not, / otherwise, we'll have to go home.
To express comparison
This car is as fast as / more comfortable than / twice as fast as / less comfortable than mine.
To conclude
Finally,/ Lastly, /Above all / All in all / Taking everything into account / On the whole, / All things considered / In conclusion, / As I have said / As was previously stated / To sum up, it is unlikely that mankind will ever bring an end to all wars.
Time
Press the button when / whenever / before / until / till / after the light comes on.
I haven 't seen him since June.
I saw him as I was leaving the shop./ I saw him while I was doing my shopping.
I never see him now that he lives in Canada.
Relatives
That's the man who/ that gave me the bag.
That's the man whose bag it is.
That 's the dog which/ that bit me.
That's the place where I live.
That's the woman who/ whom/that I live with.
Reference
I wish to make a complaint regarding / concerning one of your shop assistants.
I am writing with respect / regard / reference to / in regard/reference to your recent letter of application.
Summarising
In short / Briefly / To put it briefly, the film was the best I've ever seen.
PHRASES
LINKING WORDS / TRANSITIONS/ USEFUL PHRASES
Personal opinion
In my opinion, / In my view, / To my mind, / To my way of thinking, / Personally I believe that / It strikes me that / I Feel very strongly that / I am inclined to believe that / It seems to me that / As far as I am concerned, / I think that the world would be a much better place without nuclear power.
To list advantages and disadvantages
One advantage of / Another advantage o f / One other advantage of / A further advantage
of /The main advantage of / The greatest advantage of / The first advantage of travelling to work by bicycle is that it is cheap; you don't have to pay for fuel.
One disadvantage of / Another disadvantage of / One other disadvantage of / A further disadvantage of / The main disadvantage of / The greatest disadvantage of / The first disadvantage of travelling to work bicycle is that you have no protection from the wind or rain.
To list points
Firstly, / First of all, / In the first place, / Secondly, / Thirdly, / Finally, / To start with, people who live in the country suffer far fewer health problems than those who live in the city.
To list points in a specific sequence
BEGINNING - First, / To start with, / To begin with,/ First of all, wash the wound with cold water.
CONTINUING - Secondly, /After this / that, / Afterwards, / Then, / Next, wrap a bandage around the cut.
CONCLUDING - Finally, / Lastly, / Last but not least, place the patient in a comfortable position and allow them to rest.
To add more points on the same topic
What’s more,/ Furthermore, /Apart from this/that, / In addition (to this), / Moreover, / Besides (this), /... not to mention the fact that cars are extremely expensive to maintain,
Cars are also extremely expensive to maintain.
Cars are extremely expensive to maintain too.
Not only are cars harmful to the environment, but they are extremely expensive to maintain as well.
Cars are both harmful to the environment and expensive to maintain.
To refer to other sources
With reference to / According to the article in yesterday's Guardian, the
unemployment rate is falling in Britain.
To express cause
The government decided not to fund the scheme because / owing to the fact that / due to the fact that / on the grounds that / since / as it seemed likely to fail.
In view of / Because of/ Owing to the scheme's high chances of failure, the government decided not to fund it.
The scheme is likely to fail; for this reason the government has decided not to fund it.
Seeing that the scheme is likely to fail, the government has decided not to fund it.
The government has decided to fund the scheme now that its planners have redesigned it.
To express effect
He passed his exams; thus, / therefore, / so / consequently, / as a result, / as a consequence, / for this reason, he was able to go to university.
To express purpose
The government decided not to introduce the death penalty for fear (that) innocent people would die.
The government decided not to introduce the death penalty so that innocent people would not die.
The government decided not to introduce the death penalty so as to / in order to avoid the deaths of innocent people.
The government decided not to introduce the death penalty in case it resulted in the death of innocent people.
To emphasise what you say
Clearly, / Obviously, / Of course, / Needless to say, if everyone were allowed to carry a gun, the crime rate would rise considerably.
To express reality It is a fact that / In effect, / In fact, / As a matter of fact, / The fact of the
matter is (that) / Actually, / In practice, / Indeed, / To tell you the truth, a crash helmet would be quite useless in the event of a serious motorcycle accident.
To express the difference between appearance and reality
Initially, /At first, / At first sight, his injuries seemed minor, but when the doctors examined him, they discovered he had fractured his skull.
To give examples
For instance, / For example, by reducing your intake of red meat you can decrease your chances of having a heart attack in later life.
By reducing your intake of foods such as / like beef and lamb you can decrease your chances of having a heart attack in later life.
If you want to decrease your chances of having a heart attack in later life, you should reduce your intake of meat, particularly / in particular, / especially red meat.
To make general statements
As a general rule, / Generally, / In general, / On the whole, people who exercise regularly suffer fewer stress-related problems than those who don’t
To make partially correct statements
Up to a point, / To a certain extent, / To some extent, / In a sense, / In a way, this is true as women in society are far less likely to use physical violence than men.
To express limit of knowledge
To the best of my knowledge, / As far as I know, there is no firm proof of the
existence of aliens.
To state other people's opinion
It is popularly believed that / People often claim that / It is often alleged that / Some people argue that / Many argue that /A lot of people think that / A lot of people believe that the earth is the only planet in our solar System that has ever supported life. Contrary to popular belief the earth is not the only planet in our solar System to have supported life.
To make contrasting points
It is a known fact that smoking causes cancer, yet / however, / nevertheless, / but / at the same time / even so, / still, / nonetheless, millions of people around the world continue to smoke.
Although / Even though / Regardless of the fact that / In spite of the fact that / Despite the fact that / While it is a known fact that smoking causes cancer, millions of people around the world continue to smoke.
To express balance (the other side of the argument)
Dogs are good pets in that they provide companionship; however, / but / on the other hand, / although /yet, at the same time, / in contrast, feeding and grooming a dog can be expensive and time-consuming.
Negative addition
Neither the prime minister nor his deputy knew anything about the experiment.
Neither of them knew anything about the experiment.
The prime minister didn’t know anything about the experiment; nor / neither did his deputy.
The prime minister didn't know anything about the experiment and his deputy didn't either.
To express exception
He read all the books but / apart from / except (for) one: "Oliver Twist".
To clarify / rephrase
In other words / That is to say, / To put it another way, if people made more of an effort to protect the environment, the world would be a much healthier place to live in.
To express similarity
Alcohol reduces our ability to concentrate on our work; similarly,/likewise/in
the same way, it reduces our ability to concentrate while driving.
To give an alternative
We could switch to (either) solar power or wind power.
We could switch to solar power. On the other hand/Alternatively, wind power is also an environmentally friendly option.
To express condition
I told him that he could borrow my car on the condition that /provided (that) / providing (that) / only if/ as long as he didn’t drive it too fast.
In the event of trouble, / In the event that trouble should start, / If trouble
should start, lock all the doors and Windows.
Take an umbrella in case of rain/in case it rains.
He asked me whether (or not) I wanted to go.
You had better lock all the doors otherwise/or (else) you will be in trouble.
To express the consequence of a condition
The company is hoping for a government loan; consequently /then / so / in which case, it will be able to provide fifty new jobs.
I'm hoping the club will be open tonight; if so, we'll have a great time, if not, / otherwise, we'll have to go home.
To express comparison
This car is as fast as / more comfortable than / twice as fast as / less comfortable than mine.
To conclude
Finally,/ Lastly, /Above all / All in all / Taking everything into account / On the whole, / All things considered / In conclusion, / As I have said / As was previously stated / To sum up, it is unlikely that mankind will ever bring an end to all wars.
Time
Press the button when / whenever / before / until / till / after the light comes on.
I haven 't seen him since June.
I saw him as I was leaving the shop./ I saw him while I was doing my shopping.
I never see him now that he lives in Canada.
Relatives
That's the man who/ that gave me the bag.
That's the man whose bag it is.
That 's the dog which/ that bit me.
That's the place where I live.
That's the woman who/ whom/that I live with.
Reference
I wish to make a complaint regarding / concerning one of your shop assistants.
I am writing with respect / regard / reference to / in regard/reference to your recent letter of application.
Summarising
In short / Briefly / To put it briefly, the film was the best I've ever seen.
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