Connecting

Sentences
Being able to formulate good sentences is only half the battle in writing. It doesn't do us much
good to be able to form dozens of sentences if we don't know how to connect them. Learning how
to skillfully connect sentences and paragraphs is an art in itself and takes some time to perfect.
First, let’s talk about how to connect sentences. There are five main ways. We can
use transitional words, colons and semicolons, coordinating conjunctions, subordinating
conjunctions, and conjunctive adverbs.

Here is a few transitional words and phrases to start us off:

• Additionally/In addition to

• Likewise
• Except
• Thus
• Although
• Though
• Lastly,
• Next, then, finally, in conclusion
Here is an example:
• Shakespeare wrote many variations of plays. He wrote sonnets, a form of
poetry, as well.

After connecting these sentences using a transition phrase, the new

version might read as follows:
• In addition to writing various plays, Shakespeare also wrote sonnets, a
form of poetry.
In the next example, we’ll look at colons and semicolons. Colons are
used for lists, examples, and to explain previously mentioned ideas while
semicolons combine related sentences or two independent clauses of
related topics.
The initial paragraph looks like this:
• Shakespeare wrote a variety of works. He wrote tragedies. He wrote
comedies. He also wrote sonnets.

Let’s use a colon to connect these sentences:

• Shakespeare wrote a variety of works: tragedies, comedies, and sonnets.
Now let’s try connecting some of these sentences with a semicolon.
• Shakespeare wrote a variety of works; he wrote tragedies, comedies, and
sonnets.
Next up: Coordinating conjunctions. These include:
• For
• And
• Nor
• But
• Or
• Yet
• So

Using coordinating conjunctions to connect sentences or ideas forms a

compound sentence. For example, here are our raw sentences:
• Shakespeare wrote a variety of plays. He wrote many poems.
For this example, we’ll use a coordinating conjunction from the list to
connect these two sentences. Because we’ll be connecting two
independent clauses, we’ll need to include a comma directly before the
conjunction is used. It now reads:
• Shakespeare wrote a variety of plays, and he wrote many poems.
Let’s now observe subordinating conjunctions, such as:
• Though
• Although
• As soon as
• When
• After

Using subordinating conjunctions to connect sentences or ideas forms a

complex sentence.
• Shakespeare wrote a variety of plays. He wrote many poems.
To connect these sentences, we’ll use a subordinating conjunction from
the list.
• Though Shakespeare wrote a variety of plays, he also wrote many
poems.
Now it’s time to learn about conjunctive adverbs and adverbial phrases, which
include:
• However
• Likewise
• On the other hand

To connect ideas between two sentences without actually combining the sentences, a
conjunctive adverb can be used. Let’s try it:
• Shakespeare wrote many poems. He wrote a variety of plays including tragedies,
comedies, and histories.

We can use a conjunctive adverbial phrase to connect these sentences.

• Shakespeare wrote many poems. On the other hand, he also wrote a variety of plays
including tragedies, comedies, and histories.

Even though these two sentences are independent of each other in the new form, the
content of the sentences has been more smoothly connected by using the conjunctive
adverbial phrase.
Connecting sentences using any of the five previously mentioned
techniques serves a few different purposes. For instance, connecting
sentences adds stylistic variety to your writing. It also eliminates any
choppy wording that would otherwise prevent readers from fully
understanding a piece of text. Last, but not least, connecting sentences
in a proper manner helps to enhance the overall flow of the work.

However, be careful about changing the meaning of sentences when

combining them. If combining the sentences will result in a different
meaning, then it’s better to just leave them separated or consider making
adjustments to the sentences as a whole before combining them.