A List of Good Transition Words to Use in a Research Paper
When writing a paper, you want to flow from idea to idea and from paragraph to paragraph seamlessly. The words and phrases that allow all of this are called transitions and transitional phrases. You will need to know what the words mean, when to use them, and where to place them for the links to be effective in your composition. They are broken down into different categories:
Plus Words
- Also
- In addition
- Besides
- Moreover
- Too
- Again
- Next finally
- First second
- Third fourth
- So on
- Further
- Lastly
- Last
- Finally
- In conclusion
- To finish
Place Words
- There
- Here
- Near
- By
- Underneath
- Nearby
- Above
- Below
- Adjacent
- Adjacent to
Time Words
- Never
- Ever
- Always
- Now
- Then this time
- In time
- Soon
- Sometimes
- While
- After
- Immediately
- Then
- Next
Similar Words
- In the same manner
- Likewise
- In the same way
Opposite Words
- Yet
- However
- On the other hand
- And yet
- In contrast
- At the same time
- But
- Otherwise
- Though
- Nevertheless
Cause/Effect Words
- Because
- Since
- Therefore
- Thus
- As a result
These are not all the transitions or transitional words in existence. These strong words serve as a link and this link results in a smooth paper. They are a breadcrumb trail indicating to your reader or your audience as to where the paper is headed next. There are other categories and some people label them by different names. Some other transition and transitional phrase are summary, conceding, intensifying, qualifying, purpose, clarifying, or illustrating. Try not to be too predictable in the words you sue and try to not to use the same ones repeatedly.
Before you insert one in your paper, you need to make sure that you have selected the correct one and you need to know what it is used. The choice needs to make sense, or instead of creating a smooth link, it causes a bump in the writing and the reading for the audience.
When your instructor next assigns you a composition, feel free to go ahead and use this list as a guide. You can put the links in as you write or you can go back after the paper is finished and then add them. Which method you use is entirely your choice. Just make sure that you have them in your piece and that you have selected the correct ones and you have placed them correctly.
