DISCURSIVE FUNCTIONS DISCOURSE MARKERS / LINKING DEVICES / CONNECTORS / TRANSITION WORDS AND PHRASES

1. STATING YOUR In my opinion, / From my point of view, / It seems to me that… / From my

OPINION standpoint, / As far as I am concerned, I believe, I feel that…
*As far as I am concerned, developing countries must develop systems that help
them to become more self-reliant.
2. LISTING POINTS First, / Firstly, / In the first place, / Secondly / Thirdly / Finally / Lastly / To begin
with / First of all,
*In the first place, we have to address the underlying causes of poverty before we
develop an appropriate policy.
3. ADDING POINTS In addition (to that), / Furthermore, / Besides, / Additionally, / Moreover,
*In addition to that, technological change is having a major impact on
communication and it will influence the way in which we interact with each other.
Not only…. but also…
*Not only has technological change made a major impact on communication, but it
will also influence the way in which we interact with each other.
4. REFERRING TO According to… / In accordance with…
SOURCES *According to recent data, the effects of global warming will intensify over the next
ten years.
5. EMPHASIZING A Of course, / Obviously, / Naturally, / Clearly, / Indeed, / Needless to say,
POINT *Needless to say, the prestige of the backers meant that the scheme was assured of
success.
6. CONTRASTING Although / Even though / However, / Nevertheless, / Nonetheless, / Contrarily, /
On the contrary, / Despite…, / In spite of…,
*The current weather conditions are not proving themselves favorable for vegetable
 growth these last days; nevertheless, farmers insist that they need their crops ready
for harvesting by the end of the season.
While / Whereas
*Some people believe there is a god we will all meet in the afterlife, whereas others
do not believe there is a further existence after death.
7. OFFERING In fact, / As a matter of fact, / It is a fact that / Actually, / In practice, / Indeed /
EXPLANATION The fact of the matter is (that)
*The fact of the matter is that most governments have been very short-sighted in
planning for ageing populations.
8. GIVING EXAMPLES For example, / For instance, / In order to exemplify, // such as // particularly, in
particular, especially
*If companies are to move out of the city center, then the provision of incentives,
for instance taxation benefits, is essential.
9. MAKING GENERAL As a rule, / As a general rule, / In general, / Generally (speaking), / On the whole,
POINTS *On the whole, the education sector is the most resistant to change unless change
involves new resources.
10.QUALIFYING In a way, / In a certain way, / Up to certain point, / To a certain extent, / In a
STATEMENTS sense,
*To a certain extent, this is still true yet technology today does enable older people
to be more independent.
11.EXPRESSING Except (for) / Apart from // but
EXCEPTION *He has attended every tutorial except that one on how to create your own blog.
Unless
*We must wait prudently before making any moves, unless the CEO tells us
otherwise.
12. CLARIFYING / In other words, / That is to say, /, which is to say (that) // *Otherwise,
REPHRASING A *In other words, if you do not wear a protective helmet when riding bicycle, you will
POINT be much more likely to be seriously injured in case of an accident.
*You all must hand in your work on the indicated date; otherwise, you will be in risk
of failing the subject for the current academic term.
13. MAKING A SIMILAR Similarly, / Likewise, / In a similar way-manner-fashion, / In the same way, / In the
POINT same vein, / Following the same vein,
*Eating a balanced diet is essential to good health; likewise, moderate exercise also
promotes wellbeing.
14. EXPRESSING On the other hand, / Alternatively, / In another way, / In a different vein,
ALTERNATIVES *Students can either live on campus or look for accommodation in town. On the
other hand, they could choose to go on living with their parents and study near
home.
15. FOCUSING AND Concerning / Regarding / In terms of / With regard to / In regards to / In relation
RELATING to / In connection with…
*There are multiple issues to tackle in connection with how the government
operates.
*In terms of how to recycle, governmental efforts have been rather poor.
16. EXPLAINING THE Because / Because of / Due to / Due to the fact that / For the reason that /
REASON Owing to the fact that // since
*Due to the harsh weather conditions in northeastern USA during this season, a
large number of Americans have lost their homes and have very little to eat.
*Due to the fact that children are spending more and more time on their cell
phones and tablets, schools should think of implementing academic programs which
involve technology at its fullest.
17. EXPRESSING In consequence, / As a result, / As a result of… / Therefore, / thus…
CONSEQUENCES *The levels of noise due to continuous talking on the part of some
students are becoming increasingly annoying. As a result, students’ own
hearing is being affected, and they are getting headaches more
frequently.
18. INDICATING For + -ing / In order to / so that / so as / in order for someone to do
PURPOSE OR something
OBJECTIVE *We are currently practicing our language skills on a frequent basis, in
order to be able to do well on the IELTS Test next year.
* We are currently practicing our language skills on a frequent basis, so
that we are able to do well on the IELTS Test next year.
19. METHOD (HOW By / Through / By means of /
SOMETHING IS *The city government is trying to make Bogotá safer and nicer to live in,
DONE) by means of having more parks built and recovering old common
delinquency areas, turning them into educational centers for youths.
20. SIMULTANEOUS- While / Meanwhile / At the same time / Simultaneously, / In the
NESS meantime,
*Last night I was concentrated reading some academic articles for school;
meanwhile, my parents were attending an important social engagement
downtown.
 21. SUMMARIZING In short, / All in all, / All things considered, / Overall / Summarizing,
*All things considered, it is a fact that the world’s overpopulation
phenomenon needs to be educated on, controlled and definitely tackled,
so as to not deplete our global resources.
22. CONCLUDING In conclusion, / Finally, / All in all, / Lastly, / Last but not least, / On
balance,
*In conclusion, we can affirm that using transition words or connectors
in our pieces of writing will guarantee more effectiveness in our
communication and will in turn confer our written expression a higher
level of refinement.

Other useful Linking Devices

23. Unlike = Differently from
Unlike North Americans, who usually leave their parental homes as soon as they become adults,
most Latin Americans go on living with their parents well beyond their twenties and sometimes
even thirties or forties!

Differently from us Colombians, Australians don’t usually have lunch but dinner as their larger meal
of the day.
 24. Despite = In spite of + NOUNS

“Despite of” does not exist!

Despite their hardships and difficulties, my parents managed to provide good shelter, food and
education for my two brothers, my sisters and for me.

In spite of their hardships and difficulties, my parents managed to provide good shelter, food and
education for my two brothers, my sister and for me.

25. Despite = In spite + (-ing)

Despite being a rather shy person, Michael Jackson managed to become the greatest entertainer in
the world of modern pop music worldwide.

In spite of not having much money in her pockets back in the early 80s, Madonna’s drive, talent
and determination paved the way for her meteoric ascent to international stardom in 1984.
 26. Despite the fact that or in spite of the fact that + FULL SENTENCES
Despite the fact that Colombia has gone through many painful episodes of violence in history, this
South American nation boasts a dazzling variety of music rhythms, dances, festivals, food and
typical clothing and accessories which continue to attract hordes of tourists from all over the world.

In spite of the fact that Colombia has gone through many painful episodes of violence in history,
this South American nation boasts a dazzling variety of music rhythms, dances, festivals, food and
typical clothing and accessories which continue to attract hordes of tourists from all over the world.

27. Even though = Although

Even though life has repeatedly shown that simple solutions are what makes the world go round,
we humans often insist on making things more difficult and cumbersome than common sense
dictates.

Although life has repeatedly shown that simple solutions are what makes the world go round, we
humans often insist on making things more difficult and cumbersome than common sense dictates.