Linking Words / Phrases

Personal In my opinion/ In my view / To my mind / To my way of thinking / I am

opinion: convinced that / It strikes me that / It is my firm belief that / I am inclined
to believe that / It seems to me that / As far as I am concerned / I think
that the economic recession of the previous decade was foreseeable.

To list One advantage of / Another advantage of / One other advantage of / A

advantages further advantage of / The main advantage of / The greatest advantage of
and / The first advantage of riding a motorbike in a large metropolis is that of
disadvantages: not getting caught in major congestion.

One disadvantage of / Another disadvantage of / One other disadvantage

of / A further disadvantage of / The main disadvantage of / The greatest
disadvantage of / The first disadvantage of driving a car in a large
metropolis is that of finding a parking space.

To list points: Firstly / First of all / In the first place / Secondly / Thirdly / Finally / To
start with / To begin with, we have to address the inadequacies within the
education system before we can tackle unemployment fully.

To list points BEGINNING - First / To start with / To begin with / First of all, the Home
in a Secretary will make an introductory speech.
specific
sequence: CONTINUING - Secondly / After this / After that / Afterwards / Then /
Next, the Prime Minister will speak.

CONCLUDING - Finally / Lastly / Last but not least, the Chancellor of

the Exchequer will announce the new budget.

To add more What is more / Furthermore / Apart from this / Apart from that / In
points to the addition (to this) / Moreover / Besides (this) / ... not to mention the fact
same topic: that your choice of career is a fundamental decision which will influence
the rest of your life.

Not only is your choice of career a fundamental decision, but it is also one
that will influence the rest your life.
.
Your choice or career is both a fundamental decision and something that
will influence the rest your life.

To refer to With reference to / According to the latest scientific research, the use of
other sources: mobile phones can be damaging to one’s health in the long run.
To express The man was acquitted of the crime because / owing to the fact that / due
cause: to the fact that / on the grounds that / since / as there wasn't any
substantial evidence.

In view of / Because of / Owing to the lack of substantial evidence, the

man was acquitted of the crime.

There was a lack of substantial evidence; for this reason the man was
acquitted.

Seeing that there was a lack of substantial evidence, the man was
acquitted.

The man is to he retired now that some new evidence has come to light.

To express There was a sudden deluge; thus / therefore / so / consequently / as a

effect: result / as a consequence, he sprinted home.

To express Due to the storm, the pilot decided to turn back, so that the flight would not
purpose: he jeopardized.

Due to the storm, the pilot decided to turn back, so as to / in order to avoid
jeopardizing the flight.

Due to the storm, the pilot decided to turn back, in case the flight was
jeopardized.

They purchased the old mansion with the purpose / with the intention of
converting it into a luxury hotel.

To emphasise a Indeed / Naturally / Clearly / Obviously / Of course / Needless to say, the

point: scheme was bound to fail due to insufficient funds.

To express It is a fact that / In effect / In fact / As a matter of fact / The fact of the
reality: matter is (that) / Actually / In practice / Indeed, smoking over a long
period of time will seriously increase the risk of heart disease.

To express the Initially / At first, the proposal was viewed with suspicion but after much
difference deliberation it was finally accepted.
between
appearance
and
reality:
To give For instance / For example, by establishing day-care centres across the
examples: country, working mothers can he encouraged to resume their careers.

By providing incentives such as / like day-care centres working mothers

are encouraged to resume their careers.

If working mothers are to resume their careers, then the provision of

incentives particularly / in particular / especially day-care centres is
essential.

To make As a (general) rule / By and large / Generally / In general / On the whole,

general countries nearer the equator have warmer climates..
statements:
To make Up to a point / To a certain extent / To a certain degree / To some extent /
partially To some degree / In a sense / In a way / To a limited extent, this is true
correct but computers will always need human input.
statements:
To express To the best of my knowledge / As far as I know, Canary Wharf is the
limit of tallest building in London.
knowledge:

To state other It is popularly believed that / People often claim that / It is often alleged
people's that / Some people argue that / Many argue that / Most people feel that /
opinion: Some people point out that wealth will bring happiness,

Contrary to popular belief, wealth does not necessarily bring happiness.

To make It is a well-known fact that living in the city is harmful to one's health yet /
contrasting however / nevertheless / but / even so / still / nonetheless, a lot of people
points: move to the city every year in search of a he tier future.

Although / Even though / Regardless of the fact that / In spite of the fact
that / Despite the fact that / While it is a well-known fact that living in the
city is harmful to one’s health, a lot of people move to the city every year in
search of a better future.

To express Opponents of using animals in experiments argue / claim / believe that

balance alternative methods of testing can always be used.
(the other side
of the While it is true to say that genetic engineering holds the key to solving
argument): many of the world’s serious problems, in fact it should be viewed with
caution.

The fact that a great number of university graduates cannot find

employment contradicts the belief/idea that a university education is the
key to a successful career.
Negative Neither smoking nor consuming too much alcohol are considered healthy.
addition:
Smoking is not considered healthy; nor / neither is consuming too much
alcohol.

Smoking is not considered healthy and consuming too much alcohol isn't,
either.

To express He had collected every edition of the magazine apart from / but / except
exception: (for) one.

To clarify / In other words / That is to say / To put it another way, if you drive more
rephrase: carefully you are less likely to have an accident.

To express Brushing your teeth daily is fundamental for good oral hygiene; similarly /
similarity: likewise / in the same way, not eating food containing sugar in-between
meals also promotes oral hygiene.

To give an We could use (either) a chain-saw or an axe.

alternative:
We could use an axe. On the other hand / Alternatively, a chain-saw
would be simpler and faster.

To express His father promised to buy him a car on the condition that / provided
condition: (that) / providing (that) / only if / as long as he passed his exams to enter
university.

In the event of a fire alarm, In the event that / If a fire alarm should ring,
leave by the nearest fire exit quickly and quietly.

Take a map in case you become disorientated.

Do you happen to know whether (or not) this is the most direct route?

You should call her otherwise / or (else) she will start to become worried.

To express the The price of underground tickets is due to increase again; consequently /
consequence of then / so / in which case, I will start taking the bus.
a condition:
I'm hoping to get paid today; if so, I'll be going out tonight, if not /
otherwise, it'll be another night in front of the TV

To express My best friend is as intelligent as / more intelligent than / twice as

comparison: intelligent as / less intelligent than me.
To conclude: Finally / Lastly / All in all / Taking everything into account / Taking
everything into consideration / On the whole / All things considered / In
conclusion / On balance / For the above mentioned reasons / Therefore I
feel that / To sum up, it is unlikely that there will be peace in all the
countries of the world concurrently.

Time: Press the button when / whenever / before / until / till / after the light
comes on.

There have been no earthquakes since July last year.

He saw her as he was leaving the shop. He saw her while he was waiting.

I never see him now that his hours have changed.

Relatives: It was those people over there who/that did it.

That's the witness whose testimony will be heard later on today.

That's the judge who/that will adjudicate your claim.

That's the law court where you will be tried.

That's the woman who/whom/that I think was responsible.

Reference: I am writing to advise you of a meeting regarding / concerning the

upcoming award presentation ceremony.

I am writing with respect to / with regard to / with reference to / in regard

to / in reference to your recently published article on vivisection.

Summarising: In short / Briefly / To put it briefly, his performance on stage was

fantastic!

Adapted from:
Evans V. (2006) Successful Writing Proficiency. Newbury: Express Publishing.