Useful connectives ( linking words)

 

Connectives are words or phrases that link sentences (or clauses) together. On the other hand, a connective is a word that joins one part of a text to another. Moreover, it assists to make a sentence complex and meaningful.

Simple Connectors to use in most questions:

·         and

·         or

·         but

Complex Connectors:

1. ADDING MORE INFORMATION

·         Another reason is

·         Also

·         And

·         As well as

2. TIME PHRASES

If you need to describe ‘time’ in your speaking task, you can use any of the following linkers.

·         At the moment

·         At present

·         Now

·         These days

·         Nowadays

·         Before

·         Back in the day

·         Years ago

·         At that time

·         Then

·         When I was little

3. CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS

·         Because

·         I suppose the best way to deal with this problem is

·         The main reason is

·         It was caused by

·         One way to solve this could be

4. EXPRESSING IDEAS / STATING AN OPINION

·         I think one important thing is

·         I suppose the main difference is

·         In my view, the key point is

·         I believe that

5. GIVING EXAMPLES

·         For instance

·         Like

·         For example,

·         Such as

6. CONTRASTING/OPPOSITE

·         But

·         While

·         On the other hand

·         Although

·         Or

7. TO AGREE OR EXPRESS DISAGREEMENT

·         I couldn’t disagree more

·         I can’t agree with that

·         I quite agree that

·         Well, exactly

8. SIGNPOST WORDS

Signposting means using phrases and words to guide the reader through the content of your essay/dissertation. There are two main types of signposting: introductions, conclusions and outlining main arguments/ the direction of the argument in paragraphs/opening phrases.

Signposting words and phrases will help guide the examiner through the information, especially for longer answers.

·         To begin with,

·         However,

·         Unfortunately,

·         Similarly,

·         Nonetheless,

·         Fundamentally,

·         Incidentally,

·         Furthermore,

Linking Words for IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

Starting a paragraph

·         According to the graph/figures

·         Overall, it is clear that

·         It can be seen that

·         It is noticeable that

·         In contrast, ________ does not follow this trend.

Linking Words That Will Help You to Connect Your Ideas:

1. Contrast Words

·         In contrast,

·         However,

·         whereas/while

·         On the other hand,

2. Linking Phrases

·         In addition,

·         Furthermore,

·         Overall, it could be seen that

·         According to the data

·         It is clear that

3. Time Expressions

·         in the year 2000

·         at the end/beginning of the period

·         over/throughout/during the period in question

·         by 2000

·         between 1998 and 2000

4. The Last Paragraph

·         To conclude,

·         To sum up,

5. Describing A Process

·         After this,

·         Next,

·         The first step is that

·         Following this

·         Firstly, Secondly, Finally

·         The following step is that

·         The next step is that

·         At the first stage

6. Describing A Map

·         It is clear that the principal change was

·         According to the map,

·         One more striking change is

·         Another notable development was

Writing Task 2 for Academic and General IELTS requires students to write a formal essay. The 5 categories of essays include

·         Agree/Disagree

·         Discussion

·         Problem-Solution

·         Advantage/Disadvantage

·         Two-part question.

Some examples of linking words for IELTS Writing Task 2.

1. Listing

·         Firstly, secondly, thirdly

·         First, furthermore, finally

·         To begin, to conclude

·         Next

2. Adding more information

·         Also

·         Furthermore

·         Moreover

·         What is more

3. Similarity

·         Equally

·         Likewise,

·         Similarly,

4. Giving examples

·         For example,

·         For instance,

·         As follows:

·         That is

5. Cause and consequence

·         Because of

·         Due to

·         On account of

·         Hence

·         For this/that reason

·         So that

·         In that case

6. Generalizing

·         In general,

·         Generally,

·         On the whole

·         As a rule

7. Expressing an Alternative/contrast

Alternatively

·         Rather

·         On the other hand

·         The alternative is

·         Another possibility would be

·         However

·         Nevertheless

·         In spite of

·         Despite

8. Conclusion

·         In conclusion,

·         To conclude,

·         In brief,

·         To summarize,

·         Overall,

·         Therefore,

 

 

Prepared by Balram Shah ( Sir)

@studywithbrsir