Using Transitional Words And Phrases

Writers are using transitions to show connections between pieces of information.

Those connections are helpful for the reader to understand the writer’s purpose and the content.

1. Read each sentence carefully and choose the most appropriate transition to fill in the blanks in the sentences.

Jenny does very well in her math classes; ______________________, she struggles with writing.

A.consequently

B.however

C.likewise

Question 1 of 2

2. Read each sentence carefully and choose the most appropriate transition to fill in the blanks in the sentences.

Marcia witnessed the accident; ________________________she called 911.

A.between

B.although

C.immediately

Question 2 of 2

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This lesson is provided by Onsego GED Prep.

Video Transcription

Transitions are helping in a way that they are creating cohesive writing by linking some sentences together and linking various paragraphs together. Transitions are all used with the purpose of connecting to the author’s thesis.

An author can use transitions in several ways, but there are two methods that are most common. These are using transitional words and phrases and the repetition of key ideas to create pattern transitions.

Transitional Phrases-Transitional Words
Often, authors are using transitional words and phrases if they want to demonstrate a connection between different pieces of information.

Writers can choose from several other transitions as well when they try to achieve a specific effect in their essays. This may include the use of transitions for showing exemplification, comparison & contrast, definitions, processes, or cause & effect. The tables below are showing examples of transitions that are working well with all writing styles:

Pattern Transitions
One more way of connecting information is the use of pattern transitions.

When using this technique, authors will repeat key ideas and words for keeping paragraphs cohesive and for keeping the attention on a specific idea.

Authors will often be referring back to the essay’s main idea or thesis statement throughout their essays.

I’ll give an example. When the topic of an essay is ‘the college admission application process,’ it often happens that the author refers to the topic by using phrases such as ‘One more key step in the college admission process…’ or ‘If you want to get admitted to your favored college, you….’

So again, authors use transitions to demonstrate connections between two or more pieces of information. These connections help the readers to better understand the author’s purpose and the passage’s content.