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    Sentence Starters, transitional and other useful words

    It can sometimes be difficult to start a sentence to express ideas, or find words to show the relationship between ideas. Below is a list of possible sentence starters, transitional and other words that may be useful.

    To introduce

    This essay discusses …

    … is explored …

    … is defined …

    The definition of … will be given

    … is briefly outlined …

    … is explored …

    The issue focused on ….

    … is demonstrated ...

    … is included …

    In this essay …..

    … is explained …

    … are identified …

    The key aspect discussed …

    … are presented …

    … is justified …

    Views on …. range from ….

    … is evaluated …

    … is examined …

    The central theme …

    … is described …

    … is analysed …

    Emphasised are …

    … is explained and illustrated with examples …

     

    To conclude

    In summary, …

    To review, …

    In conclusion, …

    In brief, …

    To summarise, …

    To sum up, …

    To conclude, …

    Thus, …

    Hence, …

    It has been shown that, …

    In short, …

     

    To compare and contrast

    Similarly, …

    In the same way …

    Likewise, …

    In comparison …

    Complementary to this …

    Then again, …

    However, …

    This is in contrast to …

    In contrast, …

    And yet …

    Nevertheless, …

    Conversely, …

    On the contrary, …

    On the other hand, …

    Notwithstanding …

    Whereas …

    In contrast to …

    That aside, ...

    While this is the case …

    ... disputes …

    Despite this, ...

    To add ideas

    Also, …

    Equally important ...

    Subsequently, …

    Futhermore, …

    Moreover, …

    As well as ....

    Next…

    Another essential point…

    Additionally, ...

    More importantly, …

    In the same way …

    Another ...

    Then, …

    In addition, …

    Besides, ...

    Then again, …

    Firstly, ... secondly, ... thirdly, ... finally, ...

    To elaborate, ...

    To present uncommon or rare ideas

    Seldom ...

    Few ...

    Not many ...

    A few ...

    ... is uncommon

    ... is scarce ...

    Rarely ...

    ... is rare ...

    ... is unusual ...

    To present common or widespread ideas

    Numerous ...

    Many ...

    More than ...

    Several ...

    Almost all ...

    The majority ...

    Most ...

    Commonly ...

    Significant ...

    ... is prevalent ...

    ... is usual ...

    Usually ...

    To present inconclusive ideas

    Perhaps ...

    ... may be ...

    ... might be ...

    There is limited evidence for ...

    ... is debated ...

    ... is possibly ...

    ... could ...

    ... may include ...

     

    To give examples

    For example, ...

    ... as can be seen in ...

    ... supports ...

    An illustration of ...

    ... as demonstrated by ...

    ... is observed ...

    Specifically, ...

    ... is shown ...

    ... exemplifies ...

    Such as ...

    As an example ...

    To illustrate, ...

    For instance, ...

     

     

    To show relationships or outcome

    Therefore ...

    As a result ...

    For that reason ...

    Hence, ...

    Otherwise, ...

    Consequently, ...

    The evidence suggests/shows ...

    It can be seen that ...

    With regard to ...

    After examining ....

    These factors contribute to ...

    It is apparent that ...

    Considering ... it can be concluded that ...

    Subsequently, ....

    The effect is ...

    The outcome is ...

    The result ...

    The correlation ...

    The relationship ...

    The link ...

    The convergence ...

    The connection ...

    ... interacts with ...

    Both ....

    ... affects ...

    Thus it is ...

    ... causes ...

    ... influences ...

    ... predicts ...

    ... leads to ...

    ... informs ...

    ... presupposes

    ... emphasises

    ... demonstrates ...

    ... impacts on ...

    ... supports ...

    To present prior or background ideas

    In the past, ...

    Historically, ...

    Traditionally, ...

    Customarily, ...

    Beforehand, ...

    Originally, ...

    Prior to this, ...

    Earlier, ...

    Formerly, ...

    Previously, ...

    Over time, ...

    At the time of ...

    Conventionally, ...

    Foundational to this is ...

    In earlier ...

    Initially, ...

    At first, ...

    Recently ...

    Until now, ...

    The traditional interpretation ...

     

    To present others' ideas

    According to …

    Based on the findings of ... it can be argued...

    … proposed that …

    As explained by …

    … states that …

    … claims that …

    However, ... stated that …

    ... suggested …

    … concluded that …

    Similarly, … stated that ….

    … for example, …

    … agreed that …

    Based on the ideas of …

    … defined …. as ….

    … relates …

    As identified by …

    … disputed that …

    … contrasts …

    With regard to … argued that …

    … concluded that …

    … confirmed that …

    ... argues ….

    … highlights …

    … demonstrates …

    … found that …

    … identifies …

    ... wrote that …

    … demonstrated …

    … also …

    … reported ….

    … pointed out that …

    … maintained that …

    … hypothesised that …

    … expressed the opinion that …

    ... also mentioned ….

    ... asserts that ….

    … identified …

    … goes on to state/suggest/say

    … emphasises

    … challenges the idea ….

    … showed that …

    … explored the idea …

    Source

    Manalo. E., Wont_Toi, G., & Bartlett-Trafford, J. (2009). The business of writing: Written communication skills for business students (3rd ed.). Auckland: Pearson Education New Zealand.

     
     
Last Modified on August 18, 2023