Linkers / Connectors Cheat Sheet

LINKERS

Contrast

 

.     In spite of / Despite Link two contrasting ideas. Followed by a noun phrase.

.     Although / (Even) though Link two contrasting ideas. Followed by a sentence.

.     However / Nevertheless / Still / Yet / Even so / On the contrary / In contrast. Introduce a new idea which marks a contrast with previously stated ideas. Introduced by a comma.

.     On the one hand … On the other hand. Links two contrasting ideas / paragraphs.

.     In contrast to / Contrary to. Link two contrasting ideas. Followed by a noun phrase.

.     Whereas Link two contrasting ideas. Not separated by commas.

 

Reason and cause

 

.     Because / As / Since / Seeing that Introduce a sentence. Subordinate sentences introduced by because always appear in final position.

.     Because of / On account of / Owing to / Due to. Introduce a noun phrase.

 

Purpose

 

.     In order to So as to Introduce an infinitive of purpose.

.     In order that / So that Introduce a sentence.

 

Consequence

 

Consequently / As a consequence / As a result / Therefore

As a consequence of / As a result of Followed by a noun phrase.

.     So Introduces a sentence. No commas.

 

Addition

 

Moreover / Furthermore / In addition / Besides What’s more Used after a strong pause and separated from the sentences. They are introduced by a comma.

As well as / In addition to / Besides Used to add one more piece of information. Followed by a noun phrase.

 

Exemplification

 

      For example / For instance Introduces an example referring to previously stated ideas.

.     Such as Introduces an example referring to the last idea.

 

CONNECTORS

Contrast

 

but / yet: followed by a noun phrase or a sentence.

‘The book is short but / yet interesting’

 

in spite of / despite: It is placed at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence.

‘He arrived on time despite / in spite of getting up late’

 

although / though/ even though / in spite of the fact that: followed by a complete sentence. They can be placed at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence. If it is placed at the beginning we need to use a comma after the clause.

‘Although / though / even though / in spite of the fact that the pupils had not studied, they all passed their exams’.

 

however, nevertheless, even so, on the one hand, on the other hand, on the contrary:

‘He was quite ill however/ nevertheless/ even so, he went to school’

 

. while, whereas

‘This film is very interesting, while/whereas that one is quite boring’

 

Reason and cause

 

because, as since, seeing that:

‘Because / as / since / seeing that it’s late, we should go home’

 

because of, on account of, owing to, due to:

‘Because of / on account of / owing to / due to the weather, we stayed at home’

 

. in order to, so as to, to:

‘She uses her video in order to / so as to / to record TV programmes’

 

Add information

 

for example, for instance, such as:

‘Vegetables are a good source of vitamins: for example / for instance, oranges have vitamin C’

 

moreover, furthermore, besides, in addition to:

‘In addition to soul music, she likes rap’

 

. apart from, except for:

‘Apart from English, she speaks French’.

 

Succession

 

. – First of all / Firstly / To begin with / First ….

– Second / Secondly / Then …

– Third / Thirdly / After that

– The next stage …

– Finally / in short / to sum up / in conclusion / lastly / last but not least… 

 

Result

 

As a result of:

‘As a result of his brave action, he was awarded a military medal.

 

Therefore, as a result, consequently, for this reason:

‘Consequently / for this reason, it always passes its annual road test’.