How to achieve coherence in your writing - with Transitional expressions as Bridges

 


We know that there are 3 things that make a paragraph a great one

1. Unity

2. Order of sentences

3. Coherence

Coherence makes ideas and thoughts flow smoothly within a paragraph and within your entire piece of writing. Cohesion can be achieved in five ways.

                                  5 ways to achieve Coherence 

            * Transitional Expressions

                 * Repetition

                * Pro-forms

                 * Synonym

                * Parallel Structures 

     Using Transitional Expressions is an important and interesting way to achieve                         coherence in writing.

This post is about how using transitional expressions can achieve Coherence.

F         also read : 4 essentials to write great paragraphs

Remember!

Transitional expressions cannot magically make the cohesion. If the ideas presented are disjointed then the use of transition words will be of least help to achieve the desired cohesion.

                          Transitional expressions – bridges in your writing

Transitional Expressions are

·              *    used to achieve coherence in a piece of writing

h             *  bridges that take us from one sentence to another, from one idea to the next and from one paragraph to the subsequent smoothly

                *   also described as the glue that cements a piece of writing

                *  used in both written and spoken language

Remember!

Transitional expressions are essential, as they not only connect ideas, but also introduce contrast or opposition, shift in the narration, emphasis or agreement, purpose, result or conclusion.  They also set the sequence of thoughts and wrap an argument or thoughts.

Here is a list of transitional expressions. This list is not complete but I have tried to include most of the transitional expressions words, linkers and sequence markers. Use them to make your academic and professional writing wonderful.

Remember!

Too much of anything is not very good. So don’t go overboard by using too many transitional expressions.

     Choose carefully and use wisely!



Addition 

And, in addition to, furthermore, moreover, besides, than, too, also, both-and, another, equally important, first, second, etc., again, further, last, finally, not only-but also, as well as, in the second place, next, likewise, similarly, in fact, as a result, consequently, for example, for instance, however, thus, therefore, otherwise, additionally

Agreeing

in like manner, in the same fashion / way, of course

Similarity and comparison

equally,identically,uniquely,like,as,comparatively,correspondingly,Similarly,likewise,in like fashion,in like manner

Contrast / contradiction

On the contrary, contrarily, notwithstanding, but, however, nevertheless, in spite of, in contrast, yet, on one hand, on the other hand, rather, or, nor, conversely, at the same time, while this may be true, in reality, yet, unlike, even though, although, whereas, despite, however, regardless, rather

Illustration

Thus, for example, for instance, namely, to illustrate, in other words, in particular, specifically, such as

Time

After,  before, as soon as, as long as, then, once, next, last, at last, at length, first, second, etc., at first, formerly, rarely, usually, another, finally, soon, meanwhile, all of a sudden, at the same time, for a minute, hour, day, etc., during the morning, day, week, etc., most important, later, until, till, ordinarily, to begin with, afterwards, hence, generally, since, in order to, subsequently, previously, in the meantime, immediately, eventually, concurrently, simultaneously, forthwith, prior to, whenever, by the time

Space

At/ to the left, at /to the right, in the center, on the side, along the edge, on top, below, beneath, under, around, above, over, straight ahead, at the top, at the bottom, surrounding, opposite, at the rear, at the front, in front of, beside, behind, next to, nearby, in the distance, beyond, in the forefront, in the foreground, within sight, out of sight, across, under, nearer, adjacent, in the background, adjacent to, opposite to, here, there, where, near, further

Concession

Although, at any rate, at least, still, thought, even though, granted that, while it may be true, in spite of, of course

Emphasis /Examples

For example, for instance, to illustrate, thus, in other words, as an illustration, in particular, above all, indeed, truly, of course, certainly, surely, in fact, really, in truth, again, besides, also, furthermore, in addition, for this reason, in other words, on the positive/negative side, must be remembered, notably, truly, indeed, certainly, surely, especially, significantly, particularly, in fact, to enumerate

Details

Specifically, especially, in particular, to explain, to list, to enumerate, in detail, namely, including

Consequence or Result

So that, with the result that, thus, consequently, hence, accordingly, for this reason, therefore, so, because, since, due to, as a result, in other words, then, because of, hence, accordingly

Summary/ conclusion

To summarise, Therefore, finally, consequently, overall, to sum up, thus, in short, in conclusion, in brief, as a result, accordingly, in a word, in fact, in brief, in summary, on the whole, all in all, obviously, definitely

Suggestion

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for this purpose, to this end, with this in mind, with this purpose in mind, therefore

            Choose carefully and use wisely!

further reading : other ways to achieve coherence in writing 





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