CONNECTORS

‘Connectors’ are used to link large groups of words: phrases and sentences. You can also
use them to connect paragraphs to give them coherence. Sentence connectors are usually
placed at the beginning of a sentence and may be categorized as follows:

CONTRAST

1. HOWEVER
 This restaurant has the best kitchen in town. However, their staff are quite rude.

2. IN CONTRAST
 House prices have gone up this year. In contrast, car prices seem to be stagnating.

3. NEVERTHELESS
 I was in so much pain I didn’t want to get up in the morning. Nevertheless, I went to
football practice as usual.

4. NONETHELESS
 I don’t think Sean has serious behavioral problems. Nonetheless, I’ll talk to him first
thing in the morning.

5. YET
 I’ve asked you a thousand times not to leave your dirty socks on the floor. Yet, you
keep doing it.

6. ON THE OTHER HAND

 England has the best language schools. On the other hand, it has the worst weather.

7. BY COMPARISON
 Going out with Jim has its risks. By comparison, being with Tim is as easy as falling
off a log.

8. ON THE CONTRARY
 I don’t hate Jim. On the contrary, I’m rather fond of him.

9. INSTEAD
 I didn’t want to take a side in the argument. Instead, I put my headphones on and
listened to some smooth jazz.

10. IN ANY CASE

 I was thinking of going round Jim’s place. In any case, I haven’t been invited.

11. ALL THE SAME

 Yes, he’s very good-looking. All the same, I don’t think you should go out with him.
 SIMILARITY

1. LIKEWISE

 You can’t give your phone number to every man who asks for it. Likewise, you can’t
go out with everyone who fancies you.

2. SIMILARLY

 You’re not allowed to use your phone here. Similarly, you have to switch it off when
you’re in the library.

3. CORRESPONDINGLY

 She’s an excellent photographer. Correspondingly, her paintings are works of art.

4. IN THE SAME WAY

 Cutting down on sugar will help you lose weight. In the same way, doing more
exercise will help you get rid of a few kilos.

5. ALSO

 I want to talk to Prince Harry when I’m in England. Also, I want to meet his sister-in-
law.

RESULT

1. AS A RESULT

 I’ve done a pranic healing course. As a result, I’ve been able to cure my neighbor’s
sick cat.

2. AS A CONSEQUENCE

 Zack has skipped school on many occasions. As a consequence, he’s failed his French
test.

3. THEREFORE

 We’re going to experience some meteor showers in the next few days. Therefore, the
number of miraculous self-healings will rise.

4. THUS

 You didn’t tell me you wanted to come. Thus, we won’t be taking you with us.

5. ACCORDINGLY

 Plenty of tourists visit the area in summer. Accordingly, selling hand-made objects is
the main source of income for locals.
SEQUENCING

1. FIRST, FIRSTLY, FIRST OF ALL, IN THE FIRST PLACE

 First of all, I’d like to talk about the benefits of having a pet pig.

2. TO BEGIN WITH

 To begin with, pet pigs are cleaner than dogs.

3. FOR ONE THING

 For one thing, they’re completely loyal to their owners.

4. SECOND, SECONDLY, IN THE SECOND PLACE

 Secondly, their impressive numeracy skills must be mentioned.

5. FOR ANOTHER THING

 For another thing, you might want to consider how cute they look in pajamas.

6. THIRD, THIRDLY, IN THE THIRD PLACE

 In the third place, you can always count on your pet pig to perform some tricks for
you when you’d like to impress a pretty girl.

7. ALSO

 Also, they don’t eat much.

8. BESIDES

 Besides not eating much, they won’t ever chew on your electric cords.

9. IN ADDITION
 In addition, they can be taught to feed themselves if you allow them access to your
pantry.

10. FURTHERMORE
 Furthermore, they make wonderful walking buddies.

11. MOREOVER
 Moreover, they’ll show you the way home when you’re drunk.

12. FINALLY
 Finally, pet pigs are fantastic guards. No burglar would ever have the heart to hurt a
pet pig.

13. LAST, LASTLY, LAST OF ALL

 Lastly, your reputation as an eccentric will rapidly grow in the neighborhood if
you’re seen walking a pet pig on a leash every morning.
 ORDER OF IMPORTANCE

1. MOST IMPORTANTLY
 I’d like to talk to you about how to keep calm at your workplace. Most importantly,
never go to the canteen while your boss is there.

2. PRIMARILY
 You’ll have to focus on your immediate surroundings. Primarily, on your computer
screen.

3. ABOVE ALL
 Above all, don’t ever look up from your notes when people are around.

4. MOST SIGNIFICANTLY
 Most significantly, avoid eye-contact at all costs.

5. ESSENTIALLY, BASICALLY (usually spoken)

 How can I put this? Essentially, having an affair with one of your colleagues should
be the last thing on your mind.

PARTICULARIZATION

1. IN PARTICULAR, PARTICULARLY
 Nearly a third of marriages end in divorce. In particular, it’s middle-aged couples
that yearn for much more from life.

2. MORE SPECIFICALLY
 Couples tend to argue about financial issues. More specifically, they argue when one
of them is out of work.

EXAMPLIFICATION

1. FOR EXAMPLE
 To solve this problem, you might want to try making small gestures. For example,
making your spouse’s favorite meal for dinner or giving him a massage after a tiring
day.

2. FOR INSTANCE
 Appreciate the small things your spouse does for you. For instance, leave thank-you
notes for them every now and then.

3. TO ILLUSTRATE
 Misunderstandings can be highly destructive. To illustrate, if your spouse sees you
with a friend of the opposite sex in a café, he might not understand why he hasn’t
been invited and demand an explanation.
 EXPLANATION

1. THAT IS TO SAY, THAT IS

 Keep romance alive. That is to say, don’t let your love life fall into routine.

2. NAMELY
 I have a very good reason for not trusting my ex. Namely, he’s a convicted felon.

3. IN OTHER WORDS
 Don’t be unsociable. In other words, go out and make some friends.

4. PUT DIFFERENTLY
 John has managed to get over Jane. Put differently, he’s started seeing other women.

EMPHASISING

1. AS A MATTER OF FACT
 I love sleeping with my pet pig. As a matter of fact, I can’t fall asleep unless he’s in my
bed.

2. IN FACT
 I told them not to invite Rachel to the party. In fact, I was the only person who saw
what a party pooper she really was.

3. ACTUALLY
 I think it would be a good idea to send her some flowers. Actually, you should get her
a hundred orchids.

4. INDEED
 He may be the best-dressed man around. Indeed, he has a really good taste in
fashion.

FOCUSING AND LINKING

1. AS FOR (often suggests disinterest or dislike)
 I’m going to Janet’s party at the weekend. As for Mary’s, I think I’ll pass.
2. WITH RESPECT TO
 Starting your own IT company may be the one of the best things you can do right
now. With respect to opening a pet shop, it’s hard to say the same thing.
3. REGARDING
 Start your day with making the most important phone calls. Regarding emails, you
might put them off until later.
4. WITH REGARD TO
 With regard to handling complaints, you might want to keep in mind that your
customers are always right.
6. SPEAKING OF
 Speaking of cats, you can’t trust them to keep you company when you need it. They’re
quite selfish creatures.

7. AS FAR AS … CONCERNED
 As far as dogs are concerned, they might give you a chance to get up from your desk
and get some exercise during the day.
 CORRECTION

1. RATHER

 I thought it was a good idea to get a ferret. Rather, it had always been my dream to
get one.

2. TO BE MORE PRECISE

 You might want to change a few things. To be more precise, I think you should start
again from scratch.

TIME

1. AT FIRST

 It wasn’t a piece of cake to learn English. At first, I couldn’t pronounce all the words
correctly.

2. THEN

 Then, I couldn’t spell all the words correctly.

3. AFTERWARDS

 Afterwards, I had a hard time understanding the tenses.

4. LATER

 Later, I couldn’t memorize phrasal verbs and idioms.

5. IN THE MEANTIME

 In the meantime, I was getting some help from my English teacher.

6. MEANWHILE

 Meanwhile, I was enjoying my skype lessons more and more.

DISMISSAL (of what was said before)

1. ANYWAY

 I couldn’t get my head around the Passive Voice. Anyway, I don’t think it’s important
to use it all the time.

2. ANYHOW
 Anyhow, I’ve just decided to learn Russian next.

3. AT ANY RATE
 At any rate, I don’t want to become a simultaneous interpreter in five languages.
 CONCLUSION

1. IN CONCLUSION

 In conclusion, it may be said that pigs make the best pets.

2. IN BRIEF

 Meeting my boss at the pub was an interesting experience. In brief, it was a disaster.

3. IN SUMMARY

 In summary, it may not be the best idea to frequent the same pubs as your boss.

4. TO SUM UP

 To sum up, some people are better suited to working from home than others.

5. ALL IN ALL

 All in all, you have to make sure both you and your customers are satisfied with your
work.

You can also use the following expressions:

 To conclude,
 In closing,
 Finally, it may be concluded…
 To summarize,
 Overall, it may be said…
 Taking everything into account,
 On the whole,
 All things considered,
 Everything considered,
 By and large

OTHER WAYS TO SAY ‘TO BE HONEST’

 in all fairness …
 in all honesty …
 with all due respect …
 if i’m perfectly honest …
 if i can speak my mind …
 allow me to speak my mind …
 let me set the record straight …
 if i shoot from the hip …
 i’m just going to come right out and say it …
 i’m going to lay it on the line …
 if truth be told …
 in fact …
 as a matter of fact …
 to tell the truth …
 frankly …
 to be frank …
 actually …
 in actual fact …

OTHER WAYS TO SAY ´FOR EXAMPLE´

 Such as
 For instance
 Let’s say….
 Examples include
 One example is
 Including
 In a similar case
 In the following example, we will see how …. relates to ….
 To Illustrate
 By way of illustration
 If you look at ….
 E.g. (in written English only – this means ‘exempli gratia’ in Latin, which translates
to ‘for the sake of example’)
 This can be seen when …..
 Particularly …
 ….. as seen in ….
 which is made apparent when ….
 These include
 This includes
 As an example
 As a case in point
 Especially
 An example being …
 Namely
 In addition to
 Like this
 Another way of putting it …
 That is to say …
 i.e. (used for specific examples in written English only – this means ‘id est’ in Latin
which translates to ‘that is to say’)
 Which is made apparent when …
 In other words …
 As in …