In personal essays, often the best transitions are simply contextual and straightforward, especially if you’re working under the constraint of a low word count. For instance, to discuss graduate research plans, you might simply open a sentence with “For my graduate research, I plan to . . . .” In broader circumstances, to transition from one idea to another, writers turn to the list below—handy because the transitions are sorted by function, emphasizing the work they do. When choosing a transition from this list, focus on providing connective tissue that moves us through time, provides example or interpretation, or advances argument.
Self-Study
For more extensive lists and advice related to using transition words and phrases, turn to these websites:
“Using Transitional Words and Phrases” page from the Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
"Transitions Quick Guide" excerpt from the APA Style Guide, 7th edition
| Category | Transition Words |
|---|---|
| Interpretation | Fortunately Interestingly Significantly Surprisingly |
| Closure | Finally In sum On the whole |
| Causality | Accordingly Consequently For this reason Hence Therefore Thus |
| Similarity | In the same way Likewise Similarly |
| Amplification | Again Also Equally important First, Second, etc. Further In addition Moreover |
| Emphasis | Above all Certainly Clearly Indeed In fact In short Obviously Of course |
| Example | For example For instance To illustrate |
| Time | Afterward Earlier Next Simultaneously Soon |
| Contrast | In contrast However Nevertheless On the contrary On the other hand Still |
| Detail | In essence In particular |