English connectors

Adverbial clauses
Distinguishing between ADVERBS and CONJUNCTIONS:

•ADVERBS: They are separated from the previous

sentence by. or , and followed by “,”

"We knew you were coming; therefore, we arranged a party”

•CONJUNCTIONS: They join both sentences directly.

"We arranged a party because we knew you were coming”

- Sometimes, the conjunction connector can come at the
beginning; then, we separate one sentence from the
other with”,”

"As we knew you were coming, we arranged a party”

- Some of these linking connective words can only be

followed by a NOUN, a PHRASE or GERUND but never
a sentence. In some cases, they are actually
prepositions: due to, despite, etc.
Addition
Conjunctions Adverbs
And + SENTENCE or PHRASE /As well as + Besides / Moreover / Furthermore / In
PHRASE. addition.
He's very rich and/as well as "He's quite rich. Futhermore, he owns
competitive" some of the most important firms in
England"
He's very rich and he is very competitive"
Also/ as well / too.
"He's very rich and he is very
competitive, too." (At the end of the
sentence)
"He's very rich and he is very competitive
as well." (At the end of the sentence)
"He's very rich and he is also very
competitive." (Next to the verb)
"He's very rich and also, he is very
competitive." (Before the sentence)
"He's very rich and he is very competitive,
also." (At the end. Less usual)
Contrast
Conjunctions Adverbs
Although / Though / Even though. However / Nevertheless / Yet.
"Although it was very late, they didn't “They were very late. However, they didn't
hurry/' hurry"
In spite of/ Despite + NOUN [GERUND
"Despite/ln spite of being late, they didn't though: at the end of a sentence, it means
however in a more informal use.
hurry"
Despite the fact (that) / In spite of the fact "They were very late. They didn't' hurry,
(that) + SENTENCE though'
"Despite/ln spite of the fact they were late, On the one hand... on the other one/hand: they
they didn't hurry/' introduce two correlative different sentences.
But "On the one hand, the idea of the project was
"They were late but they didn't hurry/' really interesting. On the other one, they told us
there was not enough money to afford it"
Whereas / While (A contrast between two
ideas related to the same category)
"Janet is very talkative whereas her sister is
very introverted"
In contrast to / Contrary to / Unlike +
NOUN (Two entities and the same idea).
'Unlike her sister, Janet is very talkative"
Explanation
Conjunctions Adverbs
For example / For instance /ln other words
/ Actually / Indeed / In fact / In
particular/Anyway.
"l like all sorts of music; for instance,
classical music, jazz, rock and techno”
"l like music very much; actually, I like all
sorts of music"
"l like music very much. In particular, I like
Like / Such as + NOUN ICE-RUND rock and jazz"
"l like all sorts of music like/such as "l like classical music, jazz, rock and
classical music, jazz, rock and techno" techno. In other words, I like nearly all
sorts of music
"It is dangerous; anyway, I'll do it "
Purpose
Conjunctions Adverbs

To / In order to/ So as to + INFINITIVE

" We went to London in order to have
lunch in a good restaurant"
So that / In order that + SENTENCE
"We went to London in order that our
guests could eat in a good restaurant"
For + GERUND(Normally used to
express the function of an object or
gadget) / NOUN
"A computer is used for saving
information among other things"
"We went to London for lunch / for a
coffee"
In case: PURPOSE + PROBABILITY
"I'll take some money in case we go to
a restaurant"
Reason
Conjunctions Adverbs

Because / Cause + SENTENCE

"We didn't go out because it was
raining"
As / Since + SENTENCE (Normally at
the beginning of the whole sentence)
"As it was raining, we didn't go out"
Because of /Owing to / Due to/ As a
result of + NOUN
"We didn't go out because of the bad
weather"
Result
Conjunctions Adverbs

Writing “and” before the adverbs, we As a result / Consequently / So /

get them be used as conjunctions. Therefore / Thus
"It was raining and as a result, we "It was raining; as a result, we didn't
didn't go out" go out"
Summary
Conjunctions Adverbs

As a conclusion / In conclusion / In
brief/ to sum up / in short.
"She was always crying and
complaining. She never helped us with
our tasks and she never cared about
our problems. In brief / In conclusion,
she was a very selfish person."
Time
Conjunctions Adverbs

After /Before /Whereas / While [Until Meanwhile / Before

/When /Whenever /As /As soon as. "l was studying in my room;
"When / As soon as I had finished, I meanwhile, my friends were at the
went out for a walk" cinema because they didn't have to do
"Whenever I phone Gary, he is out". the exam. Before, we had had lunch
"As /While I was wathing TV, the together"
telephone rang
Time sequence
Conjunctions Adverbs
First (of all), secondly, thirdly.../ In the
first place, in the second place...
/Afterwards / Later/ Next / Then
'First, I had a coffee and read the
newspaper. Secondly, I took some
notes and checked my agenda and
then, I went to class"
Place

• Introduced by where, wherever, anywhere, everywhere.

Clauses beginning where normally come after the main
clause.
There is an impressive monument where the battle was
fought.
You can sit wherever you like.
Everywhere David goes, people ask him for his autograph
Manner

• Introduced by as, and normally coming after the main

clause.
I took the train, as you recommended.

• Introduced by the way in colloquial English.

You didn’t write this the way I told you to.

• Often used in comparisons with (in) the way (that), (in) the
same way (as).
You're not doing it in the same way that you did it before.
Manner

• As if and as though can be used after be, act, appear,

behave, feel, look, seem, smell, sound, taste.

He acted as if he had seen a ghost

It sounds as though they are having a good time.
Degree

• To some extent / to a certain extent are used as a way of

saying 'partly'. It can come at the beginning, in the middle or
at the end of a sentence.

Most people would accept this argument to some extent.

To a certain extent, I agree with you.
This solution is, to a certain extent, easy to understand.
Degree

• In some respects / ways are used as a connector limiting

what comes before or after.

Some people argue that the only solution to the problem of

global warming is new technology
In some respects, this is true.
Some people argue that the only solution to the problem of
global warming is new technology
In some respects, the development of non-polluting fuels
might solve part of the problem.
Comparing and contrasting

• On the one hand ... (but / while) on the other hand ...
introduce contrasting points.
On the one hand, nuclear power does not add carbon to the
atmosphere, but on the other hand it presents other more
serious pollution risks.

We can also use on the other hand to introduce a contrasting

paragraph.

• On the contrary introduces a contrasting positive point

after a negative statement.
The cost of electricity produced by nuclear power does not go
down. On the contrary, clean-up costs mean that in the long
term the cost increases substantially
Comparing and contrasting

• Compared to, in comparison to / with are used as an

introductory phrase, or at the end of the sentence.
In comparison to / Compared with last year, there has been
some improvement.
There has been some improvement in comparison to /
compared with last year.

• In the same way introduces a point which is similar to the

previous one.
Wave power generators use the constant movement of the
waves to produce electricity.
In the same way, tidal generators use the back and forward
motion of the tides.
Comparing and contrasting

The sentence adverb similarly can also be used.

Similarly, tidal generators use the back and forward motion of
the tides.

• (But) at least is used to emphasize that there is an

advantage, despite a disadvantage just mentioned.
Wind turbines are noisy, but at least they do not create air
pollution.
Organizing text
Exceptions and alternatives

• Except (for)
Everyone chose a new book, except for Helen, who was still
reading her old one.
Except for Helen, who was still reading her old one, everyone
chose a new book.

• Apart from can be used to mean the same as except for.

Everyone chose a new book, apart from Helen, who was still
reading her old one.
It can also mean in addition to.
Apart from the dent in the front bumper, the car had
scratches all along one side.
Exceptions and alternatives

• Instead (of) means that one thing replaces another.

I decided not to take the bus, but walked instead.
I decided not to take the bus. Instead, I walked.
Instead of taking the bus, I decided to walk.

• Alternatively is a more formal way of starting a sentence,

meaning or.
You could take the bus. Alternatively, you could walk.
Making clear

• In other words is used to introduce a point we want to make

clearer by repeating it in a different way.
I think you should go out more with friends, or perhaps take a
part-time job. In other words, make more of an effort to be
sociable.

• to put it another way

To put it another way, I think you should try to be more
sociable.

• That is to say and ie (or i.e.) are used to explain exactly what
you mean: ie means that is and is an abbreviation from Latin
id est.
A number of others are usually referred to as 'ballroom dances',
ie / that is to say the waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, and so on.
Introducing one side of an opinion

• In a way, in some ways, in some respects mean 'from one

point of view' and introduce one side of an opinion.
In a way, the film makes the bank-robbers seem really nice
guys!
In some respects, losing the job was a blessing in disguise.
Describing types

• A kind of, a sort of can describe a type of something.

An okapi is a kind of small giraffe.

Kind of and sort of are also used with adjectives or verbs

informally to mean rather.
This is kind of interesting. It sort of worries me.