MLA/APA Writing

Transitional Words and Phrases 

          As mentioned earlier, you should not be jumping directly from one topic to another, you should transition slowly. Transitions assist you in doing so. There are many different transitions. And there is a wide variety you may use in your paper. Furthermore, some of the common ones are and, if, so, also, first, secondly, last, and etc. A common mistake is the lack of variety when it comes to these transitions. For example. But, they had changed and altered documents related to Floyd’s case. But, the question is why, why did they intentionally change dates, documents, and possibly falsified tests? However smart it seems to do that it is not. As a result, your reader gets bored and you lose their undivided attention.  Mr. Carney will tell you to keep at least 11 transitional words or phrases memorized, this may seem a bit far fetched but I keep at least 30. Why you ask, I dislike putting the same transition twice in one paragraph. Though you may be perfectly fine with repetition, if you are than 11 is good enough. Keeping 30 at hand is not as hard as it seems, just quickly type up a list of transitions that you comfortable with, some new ones, and a few unique ones. Nevertheless, there are the less common ones as well. Some are furthermore, however, though, and there are many more but if research a few and their meanings so that you may memorize them easily. Knowing different transitional words and phrases is useful, but you do not want to use them incorrectly.

          You don’t want to say nevertheless, your reader gets bored and you lose their undivided attention. Usage is very important, especially when it comes to transitional words and phrases. They are only useful when they are used correctly. Their purpose is to make transitions between topics smoother, or to introduce a new idea. But if used incorrectly, your sentences will no longer make sense. To add on, certain transitions are meant for certain types of sentences. But, and however, would be a contradiction to the previous sentence most of the time. The Chatenay-Malabry lab has a pristine reputation for excellent testing. However their work with the Floyd Landis case suggests otherwise.  I believe that certain transitions represent certain emotions of the reader. Nevertheless would be more of a sigh contradictory, whereas however would appear with more power. Get used to your transitions and practice a bit before you begin writing though. But like everything else, you can have too much of a good thing. It is not very wise to use transitions when they are not needed.  If the sentences are fine as they are and you use transitions anyway the result will be clutter. So, do not use transitional words and phrases for every sentence. It would be agony, finding different ones for every paragraph, so it is not suggested. Using a few per paragraph should even them out nicely, and if your sentences sound rough somewhere add in a transition it’s its purpose.

List of transitional words and 

phrases available for download

below