Quiz 17 Linking Words

Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz - UESC

Departamento de Letras e Artes - DLA

Projeto de Extensão Dinamizando o Ensino da Língua Inglesa na UESC

Coordenação geral: Prof. Dr. Isaias Francisco de Carvalho

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"practice makes [almost] perfect"

Quiz 17

Linking Words or Devices

Also called words of transition, words of connection, logical connectors, transition devices, cohesive devices, connectors, discourse markers or connective adjuncts, linking words help you to connect ideas and sentences, so that people can follow your ideas.

Giving examples

For example For instance Namely

The most common way of giving examples is by using for example or for instance. Namely refers to something by name.

"There are two problems: namely, the expense and the time."

Adding information

And In addition As well as Also Too Furthermore Moreover Apart from In addition to Besides

Ideas are often linked by and. In a list, you put a comma between each item, but not before and.

"We discussed training, education and the budget."

Also is used to add an extra idea or emphasis. "We also spoke about marketing."

You can use also with not only to give emphasis.

"We are concerned not only by the costs, but also by the competition."

We don't usually start a sentence with also. If you want to start a sentence with a phrase that means also, you can use In addition, or In addition to this…

As well as can be used at the beginning or the middle of a sentence.

"As well as the costs, we are concerned by the competition."

"We are interested in costs as well as the competition."

Too goes either at the end of the sentence, or after the subject and means as well.

"They were concerned too."

"I, too, was concerned."

Apart from and besides are often used to mean as well as, or in addition to.

"Apart from Rover, we are the largest sports car manufacturer."

"Besides Rover, we are the largest sports car manufacturer."

Moreover and furthermore add extra information to the point you are making.

"Marketing plans give us an idea of the potential market. Moreover, they tell us about the competition."

Summarising

In short In brief In summary To summarise In a nutshell To conclude In conclusion

We normally use these words at the beginning of the sentence to give a summary of what we have said or written.

Sequencing ideas

The former, … the latter Firstly, secondly, finally The first point is Lastly The following

The former and the latter are useful when you want to refer to one of two points.

"Marketing and finance are both covered in the course. The former is studied in the first term and the latter is studied in the final term."

Firstly, … secondly, … finally (or lastly) are useful ways to list ideas.

It's rare to use "fourthly", or "fifthly". Instead, try the first point, the second point, the third point and so on.

The following is a good way of starting a list.

"The following people have been chosen to go on the training course: N Peters, C Jones and A Owen."

Giving a reason

Due to / due to the fact that Owing to / owing to the fact that Because Because of Since As

Due to and owing to must be followed by a noun.

"Due to the rise in oil prices, the inflation rate rose by 1.25%."

"Owing to the demand, we are unable to supply all items within 2 weeks."

If you want to follow these words with a clause (a subject, verb and object), you must follow the words with the fact that.

"Due to the fact that oil prices have risen, the inflation rate has gone up by 1%25."

"Owing to the fact that the workers have gone on strike, the company has been unable to fulfil all its orders."

Because / because of

Because of is followed by a noun.

"Because of bad weather, the football match was postponed."

Because can be used at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. For example, "Because it was raining, the match was postponed."

"We believe in incentive schemes, because we want our employees to be more productive."

Since / as

Since and as mean because.

"Since the company is expanding, we need to hire more staff."

"As the company is expanding, we need to hire more staff."

Giving a result

Therefore So Consequently This means that As a result

Therefore, so, consequently and as a result are all used in a similar way.

"The company are expanding. Therefore / So / Consequently / As a result, they are taking on extra staff."

So is more informal.

Contrasting ideas

But However Although / even though Despite / despite the fact that In spite of / in spite of the fact that Nevertheless Nonetheless While Whereas Unlike In theory… in practice…

But is more informal than however. It is not normally used at the beginning of a sentence.

"He works hard, but he doesn't earn much."

"He works hard. However, he doesn't earn much."

Although, despite and in spite of introduce an idea of contrast. With these words, you must have two halves of a sentence.

"Although it was cold, she went out in shorts."

"In spite of the cold, she went out in shorts."

Despite and in spite of are used in the same way as due to and owing to. They must be followed by a noun. If you want to follow them with a noun and a verb, you must use the fact that.

"Despite the fact that the company was doing badly, they took on extra employees."

Nevertheless and nonetheless mean in spite of that or anyway.

"The sea was cold, but he went swimming nevertheless." (In spite of the fact that it was cold.)

"The company is doing well. Nonetheless, they aren't going to expand this year."

While, whereas and unlike are used to show how two things are different from each other.

"While my sister has blue eyes, mine are brown."

"Taxes have gone up, whereas social security contributions have gone down."

"Unlike in the UK, the USA has cheap petrol."

In theory… in practice… show an unexpected result.

"In theory, teachers should prepare for lessons, but in practice, they often don't have enough time."

My Experience with Culture Shock

Read the following text and fill in the blanks with the linking words below. You may use the same connector more than once, but not all of them will be used.

Furthermore, because, because of, in spite of the fact that, but, in contrast, although, for, since, and, eventually, even though, in order to, moreover, indeed, first, as a result of, as a result, also, actually, so that, in fact.

Every person who has lived in a new culture has had some experience with culture shock, (1) __________________ I am no exception, (2) __________________ I, too, have had an experience with culture shock. (3) __________________ I have lived in the United States for almost one year, I sometimes feel homesick, and still miss my family. When I first came to the U.S., I was very excited. (4) __________________ everything was new, everything was interesting. I enjoyed my independence from my parents; I (5) __________________ enjoyed experiencing new situations and making new friends. (6) __________________ everything was a little strange, I enjoyed these new experiences.

(7) __________________ I got used to many of the differences, and (8) __________________ I was used to them, I still wasn’t comfortable. (9) __________________, little by little I grew tired of the differences. (10) __________________ the things in America weren’t new to me anymore, the differences weren’t interesting. (11) __________________, they had actually become boring. (12) __________________, I began to miss things about Indonesia, such as food, friends and the warm tropical climate more and more. I soon began depressed and homesick. I stayed in my room (13) __________________ I was tired of speaking English all the time. (14) __________________ I studied hard, my grades weren’t good. I wanted to go home.

(15) __________________ these feelings, I decided to see my advisor (16) __________________ I could get some advice about returning home without finishing my studies. He told me two important things about culture shock. (17) __________________, I learned that any person in a new culture has a similar kind of experience, (18) __________________ that culture shock can’t be avoided. (19) __________________, I learned that culture shock is not only universal, but also temporary. (20) __________________ his advice, I realized that I should be patient, and that I shouldn’t go home just yet. My advisor also suggested that I try to keep busy and talk about my culture shock with my friends.

I followed this good advice, (21) __________________, as a result, my culture shock has become less troublesome. (22) __________________ I sometimes still miss my life in Indonesia, I don’t feel as depressed as I did. (23) __________________, I no longer want to return home before I finish my studies. I know that I can adjust to this new life.