Jane Dewhurst

Cohesion – Sentence Adverbials Writing I

Sentence adverbials are adverbs that often appear at the beginning of the sentence, followed by a
comma, although they can also be used in other positions. They are particularly useful for linking together
sentences in order to compose fluent, connected pieces of writing. Look through the list below, looking up
and noting any that are new to you. Note that those words and phrases marked (F) are particularly
suitable for formal writing, where as those marked (INF) are used primarily in informal speech.
Time And yet* In the first / second Indeed
After a while At the same time place (F) In fact
After that Be that as it may Last(ly) In other words
Afterwards Better still More / most importantly Rather / Or rather
As yet But* Moreover (F) That is (to say)
At first By comparison Next To put it another way
At last By contrast (F) On top of that
At once By the same token What is more Changing subject;
At present (F) Conversely (F) referring to subject
At the moment Despite this Concluding, Anyhow (INF)
At the same time Equally summarising; Anyway (INF)
Before that / then, etc. Even so generalising As far as... is
Beforehand However All in all concerned
By then / that time In comparison Altogether As for.../ As to...
Earlier In spite of this As a rule As regards...
Eventually* In the same way Basically At any rate (INF)
Ever since (then) Instead Broadly speaking By the way (INF)
Finally* Likewise By and large Incidentally
First* Mind you (INF) Essentially Now for...
From then on Nevertheless (F) Generally Regarding...
Hitherto(F) Nonetheless (F) In brief Speaking of...
Immediately Of course In conclusion Talking about... (INF)
Initially On the contrary In general That brings me on to... (F)
In no time On the other hand In other words That reminds me... (INF)
Instantly Or* In short To turn to...
In the end Similarly Mostly With reference to... (F)
In the meantime Still On average With respect / regard
Lastly Then again On balance to... (F)
Later on Though On the whole
Overall Cause and effect;
Meanwhile Yet* reason and result;
Next* So*
Ordering points; Then inference
Now* Accordingly (F)
Previously adding information To some extent
Above all To sum up As a result
Simultaneously Because of this
Since then Additionally Ultimately
Also Consequently (F)
So far Giving examples; For this / that reason
Soon And* (INF)
And then* focusing Hence* (F)
Subsequently Among others If not
Suddenly As we shall see later
As well For examplesFor If so
Then* instance In that case
Until then As well as that
Besides In particularlyMainly Otherwise
Within minutes / days Particularly So* (INF)
First(ly) / Second(ly),
Comparing and etc. Principally That's why*
contrasting; First of all Specifically Then*
alternatives; Finally Thus* (F)
Reformulating; Therefore* (F)
concessions For one / another clarifying
Admittedly thing Actually
All the same Furthermore (F) At least
Alternatively In addition I mean (INF)

*When these words are used at the beginning of a sentence, they are not generally followed by a comma.