CONNECTING IDEAS (WRITING)

SUBORDINATORS PHRASE LINKERS SENTENCE/CLAUSE COORDINATORS

ADDITION In addition to… Furthermore, Moreover,
As well as… In addition, Additionally,
In addition to the twins, he has another child with Likewise, Besides,
his first wife. Also,
I need to go to the bookshop as well as to the bank. Students will have 2 exams each term. Furthermore, they will do
Not only…, but also short tests every now and then.
That would be not only a bad idea, but also a
dangerous one.
Besides….
Besides being my classmate, he’s my friend.
CONCESSION Although… Despite… However, Nevertheless,
Even though… (more emphatic) In spite of… Nonetheless,
Despite the fact that… Regardless of… Prices have risen. However, this increase will not continue.
In spite of the fact that… Notwithstanding
Although she left him, he still loves Despite the bad weather, we went to the beach.
her. In spite of feeling tired, we decided to go out.
There must be equality of rights, regardless of
nationality.
Notwithstanding his love of luxury, his house was
simple.
CONTRAST While By/In contrast, Conversely,
Whereas On the other hand,
Whereas knowledge can be On the one hand, expansion would be good. On the other hand,
acquired from books, skills must be it would mean losing the family atmosphere.
learned through practice. Some wrong answers were marked right. Conversely, some right
The north grows richer while the answers were rejected.
south becomes poorer.
COMPARISON (As) Compared to/with… Similarly,
In comparison with… In the same way,
25% of school-age children smoke, as compared to When you are at home, you must do what your parents tell you.
21% of adults. Similarly, you need to follow school rules.
Profits were good compared with last year’s.
In comparison with the male, the female is
stronger.
CAUSE- EFFECT Because… Because of… Therefore, As a result,
/REASON Since… … due to… As a (direct) consequence,
As… As a result of… Consequently, For this reason,
We went by bus because it was He died as a result of a heart attack. Recycling is essential for the planet. Therefore, we should all do
cheaper. Owing to… (=debido a) it.
Since there is nothing left to say, Flights were cancelled owing to bad weather. We didn’t buy the tickets. As a result, we couldn’t go to the
we can all go home. Thus (+ing) concert.
As it was getting late, we decided No decision was made, and thus the situation Hence (=de ahí, por esa razón)
to go home. remains unclear. Crime is on the increase; hence the need for more police.
... so… Shop owners raised prices, thus forcing buyers to I fell from my bike; hence the bruises.
He spoke very quietly, so we pay more.
couldn’t hear what he said.
PURPOSE … in order(not) to… … (not)
to…. (same subject)
We hired a car in order to tour the
island.
He left early not to miss the flight.
… so that… (different subject)
They worked hard so that we could
enjoy the party.
CLARIFICATION In other words,
…that is (to say),
Some wines have ‘proprietary’ names, that is to say, their
names were created by the producers.
,namely (=a saber, concretamente)
Some groups, namely students and pensioners, will benefit from
the new tax.
ILLUSTRATION … such as… … like….. For example, For instance,
The Museum has paintings by Impressionist artists Many countries are suffering a serious crisis. For instance, in
such as Manet and Degas. Spain and Portugal the unemployment rate is considerably high.

EMPHASIS Above all, More importantly

Indeed In fact,
Above all, the government must keep the promises it has made.
I haven’t seen him for a long time. In fact, I don’t remember his
face.
It would be difficult. Indeed it would be almost impossible.
TIME When… Before Previously, (=previamente=) Formerly,
As soon as…. After Nowadays, (=actualmente=) Currently
We can leave as soon as it stops Since Eventually, (=at some point) Simultaneously
raining. Life was harder before the invention of modern Subsequently, = Then
Before technology. In the future,
After People are less involved in face-to-face In the end, Finally,
Since communication since the spread of mobile phones. Eventually, the government will create 100,000 new jobs.
Life was harder before they
invented modern technology.
People are less involved in face-to-
face communication since mobile
phones spread.
LISTING First, (firstly,) first of all,
Second, (secondly)
Third, (thirdly)
Then, Next,
Finally,
First, you need to know the meaning of these words.
Then, pay attention to how they are used in a sentence.
SUMMARIZING Finally,
To sum up, (=en resumen=) To summarize,
To conclude,
Last but not least (=por ultimo pero no menos importante)
Finally, you should practice writing texts using these connectors.