Connectors and Modifiers

1. Appearance and reality.

At first sight … but in fact….
Apparently…but they were really/actually
The fact is that…
As a matter of fact…

2. Developing an argument (sequence)

First... In the first place… To begin with…To start with… First of all…
Second… Secondly… In the second place… In addition to that… Apart
from that… Besides…
Third… Finally… Lastly… Above all… In conclusion… All in all…(with
everything considered). All in all, I would say John and I had a very nice
trip.
All things considered, the flight wasn't so bad at first.
As if this were not enough, not only did the flight attendants never serve us
any drinks, but they did not give any in-flight announcements either.
On top of all this, the airline lost my luggage!
To make matters worse, the plane that was to take us back to Palma was
cancelled.

3. Giving examples
For example… For instance… A case in point was a problem that
developed during the flight.

4. Contrast
Although… However,… At the same time… e.g. At the same time, we
didn't want to take that plane.
After all, we didn't really have a choice
In spite of + noun phrase/ -ing/ the fact that…
Despite + noun phrase/ -ing/ the fact that…

5. Balance
On one hand, the cabin crew was courteous. On the other hand, however,
in-flight entertainment was terrible.

6. Cause and effect

Because of… e.g. We were worried in the morning because of the
weather.
Caused by… Due to… e.g. The cancellation of the flight was due to the rain.
Consequently... As a result… In consequence…
For this reason… For these reasons… For one reason or another…

7. Expressing personal opinion

For my part, I did not know that the maximum weight allowed was only 10
kg.
Personally… In my opinion… In my view…
As I saw it, we had no choice.
To my mind, their behaviour was unreasonable.
 As far as I was concerned, that was very sound (reliable and sensible)
advice.
So far as it concerned me…

8. Modifying what is said or written

To agree
In general… As a rule… On the whole… On the whole it was a good
airline.
To agree to a certain extent
The passengers were right, in a way, but the airline had to consider the
increase in the price of fuel.
In a sense the airline was the best in the country, but the way we were
treated that day did not show that. In some sense I agreed with that
passenger, but not entirely.
The captain was right up to a point.
To say that you are not very well informed
As far as I knew… . For all I knew… To the best of my knowledge… e.g.
To the best of my knowledge, they were supposed to arrive yesterday.
To limit the argument
In those circumstances, the next suitable day for me to take a flight to New
York was 30th October. At least…
But things being as they were, a riot on the plane was inevitable …

9. Intensifying the statement

Clearly… Obviously… Of course… Needless to say… As everyone
knows…
To point something out
In particular… Especially… Above all… . Let alone... Not to mention…
In other words… In any case…

10. Referring to someone or something

With regard to… e.g I spoke to the airline representative with regard to [as
regards, in regard to, regarding] what we had to endure. As for the food,
there was nothing to do but throw it away.