Linking Words / Phrases


Personal opinion:

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

disadvantages:


One advantage of / Another advantage of / One other advantage of / A further advantage of / The
main advantage of / The greatest advantage of / The first advantage of riding a motorbike in a
large metropolis is that of 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 in a

specific sequence:


BEGINNING - First / To start with / To begin with / First of all, the Home Secretary will make an
introductory speech.


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 points to the same topic:


What is more / Furthermore / Apart from this / Apart from that / In addition (to this) / Moreover /
Besides (this) / ... not to mention the fact 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 other sources:

With reference to / According to the latest scientific research, the use of mobile phones can be
damaging to one’s health in the long run.




To express cause:

The man was acquitted of the crime because / owing to the fact that / due 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 effect:


There was a sudden deluge; thus / therefore / so / consequently / as a result / as a consequence,
he sprinted home.


To express purpose:


Due to the storm, the pilot decided to turn back, so that the flight would not 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 point:

Indeed / Naturally / Clearly / Obviously / Of course / Needless to say, the scheme was bound to
fail due to insufficient funds.


To express reality:

It is a fact that / In effect / In fact / As a matter of fact / The fact of the 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 difference between appearance and

reality:


Initially / At first, the proposal was viewed with suspicion but after much deliberation it was
finally accepted.









To give examples:

For instance / For example, by establishing day-care centres across the 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 general statements:

As a (general) rule / By and large / Generally / In general / On the whole, countries nearer the
equator have warmer climates..


To make partially correct statements:

Up to a point / To a certain extent / To a certain degree / To some extent / To some degree / In a
sense / In a way / To a limited extent, this is true but computers will always need human input.


To express limit of knowledge:


To the best of my knowledge / As far as I know, Canary Wharf is the tallest building in London.


To state other people's opinion:

It is popularly believed that / People often claim that / It is often alleged that / Some people
argue that / Many argue that / Most people feel that / Some people point out that wealth will bring
happiness,


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


To make contrasting points:

It is a well-known fact that living in the city is harmful to one's health yet / however /
nevertheless / but / even so / still / nonetheless, a lot of people 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 balance

(the other side of the argument):

Opponents of using animals in experiments argue / claim / believe that alternative methods of
testing can always be used.


While it is true to say that genetic engineering holds the key to solving 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 addition:

Neither smoking nor consuming too much alcohol are considered healthy.


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 exception:

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


To clarify / rephrase:

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


To express similarity:


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


To give an alternative:


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


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


To express condition:


His father promised to buy him a car on the condition that / provided (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

consequence of

a condition:


The price of underground tickets is due to increase again; consequently / then / so / in which
case, I will start taking the bus.


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 comparison:


My best friend is as intelligent as / more intelligent than / twice as 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.