100+ Important Transition Words and Phrases with Examples

Transition Words in English! Like other languages, English has a lot of cohesive and transition words that can be used to express addition, contrast, cause and effects, purpose… with examples and ESL printable infographic.

Table of Contents

Common Transition Words

Here is the list of frequently used connecting words in English

Expressing Addition

To add information, you can use these expressions:

Additionally
Furthermore
Moreover
In addition
Likewise
Similarly
Also
As well as
Not to mention
Coupled with
Together with
And
Too
What is more
Not only…but also
Besides

Examples:

She was an excellent swimmer. Additionally, she was a talented gymnast.
The movie received critical acclaim. Furthermore, it was a box office success.
The restaurant has great food. Moreover, the service is exceptional.
I enjoy hiking. In addition, I love camping in the mountains.
John loves playing the guitar. Likewise, his brother is also musically talented.
Sarah and Emily have a lot in common. Similarly, they both enjoy painting and reading.
I love chocolate cake. Also, I enjoy eating ice cream.
My sister speaks French fluently. As well as that, she’s learning Spanish.
The museum has beautiful paintings. Not to mention, the sculptures are also amazing.
The company offers a great benefits package. Coupled with a competitive salary, it’s a desirable place to work.
The team worked hard. Together with their coach’s guidance, they won the championship.
I like to read books. And I also enjoy listening to audiobooks.
Jane likes to travel. Too bad she can’t go anywhere now due to the pandemic.

Expressing Contrast

To express contrast, you can use these expressions:

However
On the other hand
In contrast
Nevertheless
Nonetheless
Conversely
But
While
Although
Even though
Despite
In spite of
Whereas
Unlike
Rather
On the contrary
Alternatively
Despite this
Regardless

Examples:

Brain drain has terrible consequences on the developing countries. Nevertheless, nothing has been done to solve the problem or at least reduce its negative effects.
In spite of/despite Fred’s old age, he goes jogging every morning.
Although she’s very nice, her classmates hate her.
They have got two children, a boy and a girl. The boy takes after his father whereas the girl takes after the mother.

Expressing Cause and Effect

To express cause and effect, you can use these expressions:

Consequently
As a result
Therefore
Thus
Accordingly
Hence
Because of
Due to
Owing to
For this reason
So
Since
Consequently
That’s why
Under these circumstances
In effect
In consequence
In view of this
So that
Therefore, it follows that

Examples:

She remained silent, for she was so depressed to talk.
We can’t go to Sue’s party because we’ll be busy working on our project.
The plane was delayed because of the foggy weather.
He had spent most of his time hanging around instead of revising his lessons. Consequently, he had a lot of trouble answering the exam questions.

Expressing Purpose

To express purpose use the following words:

To
In order to
So as to
For the purpose of
With the aim of
With the intention of
To the end that
To this end
With this in mind
With a view to
For the sake of
In the hope that
In the interest of
In order that
So that

Examples:

She wakes up early in order to be on time to work.
They visited him so as to offer their condolences for the death of his wife
He helped the new policewoman so as not to fail in her first mission.

Summarizing

To summarize, you can use the following expressions:

In conclusion
To summarize
All in all
Ultimately
Overall
To sum up
To put it briefly
In summary
Briefly stated
To conclude
In essence
Given these points
As a result
Hence
Therefore
Thus
Consequently
In brief
In short
In a word

Examples:

In conclusion, I hope the preceding arguments have convinced you of the need for action.
To conclude, I’d like to express my thanks to my family.
To sum up, damp walls are not disastrous structurally, but the cause must be ascertained and the condition rectified.
In a nutshell, the owners thought they knew best.
In brief, I have made up my mind to quit my job.