Observe the following sentences:

1. Freddie Glick and the writer devised a plan to

trick the bully; as a result, they succeeded.
2. He pretended he was hit; however, it was only to
test how Larry would feel about it.
3. Finally, Freddy headed home, carefully walking
by Larry’s front window to instigate phase two
of our now-complete plan.
TRANSITIONAL
DEVICES
Prepared by:
Michelle Dumlao - Graza
 What is
TRANSITIONAL DEVICES ?

─ means passing over from one idea to the next

─ tells directly the reader the logical
relationship between one idea and another
idea
─ act as a bridge to link the ideas from sentence
to sentence and often as guideposts to
indicate the direction of thoughts
 W hy do we need to use
TRANSITIONS ?

─ enable one’s ideas to flow together

─ help make a writing more
coherent
 W hy do we need to use
TRANSITIONS ?

─ join two independent clause

Example:
Leandro is a great swimmer;
furthermore, he’s very good at scuba
diving.
 W hy do we need to use
TRANSITIONS ?

─ connect two sentences

Example:
Leandro is very athletic. In fact, he
plays three sports at the school.
T R AN S I T I O N W O R D S
M AY S H O W :

Addition
Reinforcement / Emphasis
Exemplification
Comparison & Contrast
Result / Effect
Time
Conclusion
 TRANSITIONS WHICH SHOW
ADDITION

moreover, furthermore, in addition,

beside, also
Example:
Leandro love to play volleyball; moreover,
he likes to play football.
 TRANSITIONS WHICH SHOW
REINFORCEMENT / EMPHASIS

indeed, in fact
Example:
Leandro plays basketball, in fact, he plays
every Saturday.
 TRANSITIONS WHICH SHOW
EXEMPLIFICATION

for example, for instance, in particular,

such as, namely, to illustrate
Example:
Leandro enjoys outdoor sports; for
example, he likes hiking, skiing and fishing.
 TRANSITIONS WHICH SHOW
COMPARISON

likewise, compared to, similarly, as … as

Example:
Leandro loves basketball; likewise he also
loves volleyball.
 TRANSITIONS WHICH SHOW
CONTRAST

however, in the contrary, in contrast, on

the other hand, despite, although
Example:
Leandro enjoys scuba diving; on the other
hand, I think it’s an expensive sports.
 TRANSITIONS WHICH SHOW
RESULT / EFFECT

consequently, accordingly, thus, hence,

therefore, as a result
Example:
Leandro’s leg broke; as a result, he cant
play basketball.
 TRANSITIONS WHICH SHOW
TIME
meanwhile (at the same time),
subsequently (after), thereafter (after),
earlier, finally, later, after, first, second,
third …
Example:
Leandro scored a goal; subsequently, his
team won the game.
 TRANSITIONS WHICH SHOW
CONCLUSION

in conclusion, finally, in summary, to

conclude, to summarize
Example:
In sum, planning your trip carefully will
allow you to have a more relaxed trip.
 Study the paragraph and identify the
transitional devices used.

It is important to plan your trips carefully. For

example, when you go on a trip, you think about how much
money to allot for things like transportation, food and hotels. In
particular, hotels and transportations on trips can be expensive
if you don’t look them with plenty of time in advance. Another
thing to plan for is how much time you want to spend
sightseeing and doing different sort of activities. Even though
you may want to do everything you have to remember that there
are only so many hours in the day! In sum, planning your trip
carefully will allow you to have a more relaxed trip.
 Arrange the following sentences to form
a coherent paragraph. Make use of the
transition markers as guide.

A. First, it is proven that aerobic exercise is good for the heart

which is very important to overall health.
B. Exercise is really good for one’s physical and mental health.
C. Finally, all kinds of exercise have been shown to relieve
depression, anxiety and stress.
D. Both muscle mass and bone density can decrease as we age,
so improving them through strength training is important.
E. Second, strength training is important for maintaining
muscle mass and improving bone density.