B2 LESSON 13: CONNECTING IDEAS

 HOW TO CONNECT CONTRASTING IDEAS

CONNECTORS AND LINKERS

LINKERS

Contrast  (The main difference between although, even though, in spite of and despite is that they are used with different structures. )

.     In spite of / Despite Link two contrasting ideas. Followed by a noun phrase. 

.     Although / (Even) though Link two contrasting ideas. Followed by a sentence. 

.     However / Nevertheless / Still / Yet / Even so / On the contrary / In contrast. Introduce a new idea which marks a contrast with previously stated ideas. Introduced by a comma. 

.     On the one hand ... On the other hand. Links two contrasting ideas / paragraphs. 

.     In contrast to / Contrary to. Link two contrasting ideas. Followed by a noun phrase. 

.     Whereas Link two contrasting ideas. Not separated by commas. 

Reason and cause

.     Because / As / Since / Seeing that Introduce a sentence. Subordinate sentences introduced by because always appear in final position. 

.     Because of / On account of / Owing to / Due to. Introduce a noun phrase. 

Purpose

 

.     In order to / So as to Introduce an infinitive of purpose.

.     In order that / So that Introduce a sentence. 

Consequence

    . Consequently / As a consequence / As a result / Therefore   

    . As a consequence of / As a result of Followed by a noun phrase. 

.     So Introduces a sentence. No commas.   

Addition

    . Moreover / Furthermore / In addition / Besides / What's more Used after a strong pause and separated from the sentences. They are introduced by a comma. 

    . As well as / In addition to / Besides Used to add  one more piece of information. Followed by a noun phrase. 

. Exemplification/ Illustration

      For example / For instance Introduces an example referring to previously stated ideas. 

.     Such as Introduces an example referring to the last idea.

CONNECTORS

Contrast

. but / yet: followed by a noun phrase or a sentence. 

‘The book is short but / yet interesting’

. in spite of / despite: It is placed at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence.

‘He arrived on time despite / in spite of getting up late’

although / though/ even though / in spite of the fact that: followed by a complete sentence. They can be placed at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence. If it is placed at the beginning we need to use a comma after the clause.  

  ‘Although / though / even though / in spite of the fact that the pupils had not studied, they all passed their exams’. 

  

. however, nevertheless, even so, on the one hand, on the other hand, on the contrary: 

‘He was quite ill however/ nevertheless/ even so, he went to school’

  

. while, whereas   

‘This film is very interesting, while/whereas that one is quite boring’  

Reason and cause

. because, as since, seeing that:  

‘Because / as / since / seeing that it’s late, we should go home’ 

. because of, on account of, owing to, due to: 

    ‘Because of / on account of / owing to / due to the weather, we stayed at home’

. in order to, so as to, to: 

‘She uses her video in order to / so as to / to record TV programmes’ 

Add information

. for example, for instance, such as: 

‘Vegetables are a good source of vitamins: for example / for instance, oranges have vitamin C’ 

. more over, furthermore, besides, in addition to: 

‘In addition to soul music, she likes rap’ 

. apart from, except for: 

‘Apart from English, she speaks French’.

Succession

. - First of all / Firstly / To begin with / First …. 

 - Second / Secondly / Then … 

 - Third / Thirdly / After that...

 - The next stage … 

 - Finally / in short / to sum up / in conclusion / lastly / last but not least…  

  

 Result

. As a result of: 

‘As a result of his brave action, he was awarded a military medal. 

Therefore, as a result, consequently, for this reason: 

‘Consequently / for this reason, it always passes its annual road test’. 

Order

First parragraph

At first sight: A primera vista
First: En primer lugar
First of all: Antes que nada
In the first place: En primer lugar
To start with: Para empezar


Second paragraph

In the second place: En segundo lugar
Second: Segundo
Secondly: En segundo lugar
Third: Tercero
Thirdly: En tercer lugar


Conclusion

Finally: Por último
In conclusion: Para concluir
Lastly: Por último
And eventually: Y finalmente


Adding information

apart from: Aparte de
in addition: Además
in addition to: Además de
What’s more: Además; lo que es más
moreover: Además
on top of that: Además
besides: Además
On the one hand: Por una parte
On the other hand: Por otra parte
and eventually: Y finalmente

Contrast

all the same: a pesar de todo
however: sin embargo
instead of: en vez de
in spite of / despite: a pesar de
nevertheless: no obstante
on the contrary: por el contrario
whereas / while: mientras
though / although: aunque

Reason

because of + noun: a causa de
due to + noun: debido a
due to the fact that + sentence: debido a que 
for this / that reason:  por esta / esa razón
owing to + noun: debido a 
owing to the fact that + sentence: debido a que

Result

as a result: como resultado
because of: a causa de
consequently: en consecuencia
so: por lo tanto
that's why: por eso, por esa razón...
therefore: por lo tanto


Expressing facts
actually: en realidad
as a matter of fact: de hecho
in fact: de hecho
really: en realidad

Expressing a personal opinion
as far as I am concerned por lo que a mí respecta
from my point of view desde mi punto de vista
I agree estoy de acuerdo
I disagree no estoy de acuerdo
in my opinion en mi opinión
in my view según lo veo
I think that creo que
it is true that es verdad que
personally personalmente
to be honest, para ser honesto
to tell the truth, a decir verdad

Explain

that is (to say): es decir
in other words: en otras palabras
in short: en resumen
above all: sobre todo

all in all: en general

at least: al menos

basically: básicamente, fundamentalmente

especially: especialmente, sobre todo

essentially: esencialmente

in general: en general

in particular: en particular

more or less: más o menos

on the whole: en general

to a certain extent: hasta cierto punto

Exemplifying
and so on: etcétera

for example: por ejemplo

for instance: por ejemplo

such: as tal(es)como

Summarizing
all in all: en suma

in brief: en resumen

in conclusion: Para concluir

in short: en resumen

on the whole: en general

to sum up: Para resumir

Sequencing
after that: después de eso

all of a sudden: de repente

Finally: Finalmente

First of all: En primer lugar

in the end: al final

in the meantime: mientras tanto

meanwhile: mientras tanto

next: luego

suddenly: de repente

then: entonces, después

while: mientras

Go to www.youandl.com for exercises on how to use these linkers and connectors.

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