Conjunctions Part 1

This video introduces you to conjunctions and linkers. We will look at four of the most common ways to link sentences; that is, linkers to express

  1. addition (words that mean ‘and),
  2. contrast (words like ‘but),
  3. consequence (words like ‘so’), and
  4. reason (words like ‘because’)

‘And’, ‘but’, ‘so’ and ‘because’ are fairly informal words. While these are okay in speaking, for academic  writing, you may need to choose alternatives to make it more academic, more varied or more sophisticated.

Addition

Let’s look first at addition and alternatives to the word ‘and’. It is important to note that in academic writing we don’t usually start a sentence with ‘and’. Better alternatives at the beginning of a sentence are: ‘In addition’, ‘Additionally, ‘Besides this’, ‘Furthermore’, or ‘As well as this’.

These words usually go at the beginning of the second sentence, followed by a comma like this:

________________________. In addition, __________________________.

________________________. Additionally, __________________________.

________________________. Besides this, __________________________.

________________________. Furthermore, __________________________.

________________________. As well as this, _________________________.

Contrast

Now let’s look at contrast. The word ‘but’ is used to introduce a clause that contrasts what has already been mentioned:

  • There was a deadline for the assignment but the tutor extended it.

We can also make this into two sentences by using ‘however’ like this:

  • There was a deadline for the assignment. However, the tutor extended it.

As you can see, ‘however’ used in this way, usually goes at the beginning of a new sentence and is followed by a comma. Or it can come after a semi colon, followed by a comma like this:

  • There was a deadline for the assignment; however, the tutor extended it.

Another alternative to ‘but’ is ‘although’. Notice that it comes at the beginning of the sentence, before the first clause, not in the middle of the two clauses.

  • Although there was a deadline for the assignment, the tutor extended it.

It is probably better to avoid using ‘though’ in your academic writing, as this is more informal.

If we want to put more emphasis on the sentence, we can also use ‘despite’, or ‘nevertheless’. Let’s imagine that the tutor has extended the deadline by two weeks. This is a long time for an extension, and we want to emphasise this with our linking words.

  • There was a deadline for the assignment. Nevertheless, the tutor extended it by 2 weeks.
  • Despite the deadline for the assignment, the tutor extended it by 2 weeks.

Note that when we use ‘despite’ we have to use a noun after it and not a clause, or we can say ‘despite the fact that’ if we want to use a clause.

We can summarise these contrast linkers like this:

____________________. However, _____________________.

____________________. Nevertheless, __________________.

Although ________________, __________________________.

Despite + noun___________, __________________________.

Despite + the fact that + ____________, __________________________.

One final point: notice that you must not use the word ‘but’ if we have other contrast words in the same sentence. This is a common mistake.

  • Although there was a deadline for the assignment, but the tutor extended it.
  • Despite the high percentage of enrolments but the students did not attend.

Consequence

Now let’s turn to linkers related to consequence like ‘so’. Again, ‘so’ is a fairly informal word and for academic writing, we might choose alternatives. For example:

  • There was inadequate preparation for the cyclone. As a result, the storm caused a great deal of damage.

On the screen are some other ways we could say this, using ‘consequently’, ‘thus’, ‘hence’, and ‘therefore’.

There was inadequate preparation for the cyclone.

As a result,

the storm caused a great deal of damage.

Consequently,

Thus,

Hence,

Therefore,

Notice in these examples that the words or phrases related to consequence start a new sentence and are followed by a comma.

Reason

A final group of linking words provide reasons. The most common of these is the word ‘because’, so you might find yourself repeating it a lot in your writing. Alternatives to ‘because’ are ‘as’ or ‘since’. For example:

We continued with the research

because

we had found interesting preliminary results.

as

since

Another alternative to ‘because’ is the phrase ‘because of’. This means the same as ‘because’ but it is followed by a noun, not a clause. For example:

  • We continued with the research because of the interesting preliminary results.

Due to’, ‘owing to’, ‘on account of’ and ‘as a result of’ are other options that mean the same as ‘because of’.

We continued with the research

because of

the interesting preliminary results.

due to

owing to

on account of

as a result of

This video has looked at four common ways of linking.  If you’d like to find out more about conjunctions and linkers, click the link to go to Conjunctions and Linkers Part 2.