transition paragraph for cause and effect essay

Essay Papers Writing Online

How to master the art of writing a successful cause and effect essay that captivates your readers and earns you top grades.

Are you intrigued by the interconnected nature of events and phenomena? Do you aspire to unravel the hidden threads that link causes to effects? Crafting a cause and outcome essay provides an excellent platform to explore and dissect these connections, allowing you to showcase your analytical skills and express your ideas with precision and clarity.

In this comprehensive guide, we will delve deep into the art of writing cause and outcome essays, equipping you with effective strategies, invaluable tips, and real-life examples that will help you master the craft. Whether you are a seasoned writer looking to enhance your skills or a beginner eager to embark on a new writing journey, this guide has got you covered.

Throughout this journey, we will navigate the intricate realm of cause and outcome relationships, examining how actions, events, and circumstances influence one another. We will explore the essential elements of a cause and outcome essay, honing in on the importance of a strong thesis statement, logical organization, and compelling evidence. By the end of this guide, you will possess the necessary tools to produce a captivating cause and outcome essay that engages your readers and leaves a lasting impact.

Tips for Writing a Cause and Effect Essay

When composing a paper that focuses on exploring the connections between actions and their consequences, there are several essential tips that can help you write a compelling cause and effect essay. By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your essay is well-structured, clear, and effectively communicates your ideas.

By following these tips, you can enhance your ability to write a compelling cause and effect essay. Remember to analyze the causes and effects carefully, organize your ideas effectively, provide clear explanations, use transitional words, and proofread your essay to ensure a polished final piece of writing.

Understand the Purpose and Structure

One of the most important aspects of writing a cause and effect essay is understanding its purpose and structure. By understanding these key elements, you can effectively communicate the relationship between causes and effects, and present your argument in a clear and organized manner.

In a cause and effect essay, the purpose is to analyze the causes of a specific event or phenomenon and explain the effects that result from those causes. This type of essay is often used to explore the connections between different factors and to demonstrate how one event leads to another.

To structure your cause and effect essay, consider using a chronological or sequential order. Start by introducing the topic and providing some background information on the causes you will discuss. Then, present your thesis statement, which should clearly state your main argument or claim.

In the body paragraphs, discuss each cause or group of causes in a separate paragraph. Provide detailed explanations, examples, and evidence to support your claims. Make sure to use transitional words and phrases to guide the reader through your essay and to show the logical progression of causes and effects.

Finally, in the conclusion, summarize your main points and restate your thesis, reinforcing your overall argument. You can also discuss the broader implications of your analysis and suggest possible solutions or further research.

By understanding the purpose and structure of a cause and effect essay, you can effectively convey your ideas and arguments to your readers. This will help them follow your reasoning and see the connections between causes and effects, leading to a more convincing and impactful essay.

Choose a Topic

When embarking on the journey of writing a cause and effect essay, one of the first steps is to choose an engaging and relevant topic. The topic sets the foundation for the entire essay, determining the direction and scope of the content.

To select an effective topic, it is important to consider your interests, as well as the interests of your intended audience. Think about subjects that captivate you and inspire curiosity. Consider current events, personal experiences, or areas of study that pique your interest. By choosing a topic that you are genuinely passionate about, you will be more motivated to conduct thorough research and present compelling arguments.

Additionally, it is essential to select a topic that is relevant and meaningful. Identify an issue or phenomenon that has a clear cause-and-effect relationship, allowing you to explore the connections and consequences in depth. Look for topics that are timely and impactful, as this will ensure that your essay resonates with readers and addresses significant issues in society.

Moreover, a well-chosen topic should have enough depth and breadth to support a comprehensive analysis. Avoid selecting topics that are too broad or shallow, as this can make it challenging to delve into the causes and effects in a meaningful way. Narrow down your focus to a specific aspect or aspect of a broader topic to ensure that you have enough material to explore and analyze.

In conclusion, choosing a topic for your cause and effect essay is a critical step that will shape the entire writing process. By selecting a topic that aligns with your interests, is relevant and meaningful, and has enough depth and breadth, you will lay the foundation for a compelling and informative essay.

Conduct Thorough Research

Before diving into writing a cause and effect essay, it is essential to conduct a comprehensive research on the topic of your choice. This research phase will provide you with the necessary background information and context to develop a strong and well-supported essay.

During the research process, explore various sources such as books, academic journals, reputable websites, and credible news articles. Utilize synonyms for “research” like “investigate” or “explore” to keep your writing engaging and varied.

Avoid relying solely on a single source or biased information. Instead, strive to gather a variety of perspectives and data points that will enhance the credibility and validity of your essay.

Take notes as you research, highlighting key points, statistics, and quotes that you may want to include in your essay. Organize your findings in a clear and structured manner, making it easier to refer back to them as you begin writing.

Incorporating well-researched evidence and supporting examples into your cause and effect essay will lend credibility to your arguments, making them more persuasive and convincing. By conducting thorough research, you will be able to present a well-rounded and informed analysis of the topic you are writing about.

Create an Outline

One of the crucial steps in writing any type of essay, including cause and effect essays, is creating an outline. An outline helps to organize your thoughts and ideas before you start writing, ensuring that your essay has a clear and logical structure. In this section, we will discuss the importance of creating an outline and provide some tips on how to create an effective outline for your cause and effect essay.

When creating an outline, it is important to start with a clear understanding of the purpose and main points of your essay. Begin by identifying the main cause or event that you will be discussing, as well as its effects or consequences. This will serve as the foundation for your outline, allowing you to structure your essay in a logical and coherent manner.

Once you have identified the main cause and effects, it is time to organize your ideas into a clear and logical order. One effective way to do this is by using a table. Create a table with two columns, one for the cause and one for the effect. Then, list the main causes and effects in each column, using bullet points or short phrases. This will help you see the connections between the different causes and effects, making it easier to write your essay.

In addition to listing the main causes and effects, it is also important to include supporting details and examples in your outline. These can help to strengthen your argument and provide evidence for your claims. Include specific examples, facts, and statistics that support each cause and effect, and organize them under the relevant point in your outline.

Lastly, make sure to review and revise your outline before you start writing your essay. Check for any gaps in your logic or missing information, and make any necessary adjustments. Your outline should serve as a roadmap for your essay, guiding you through the writing process and ensuring that your essay is well-structured and coherent.

In conclusion, creating an outline is an essential step in writing a cause and effect essay. It helps to organize your thoughts and ideas, ensuring that your essay has a clear and logical structure. By identifying the main cause and effects, organizing your ideas into a table, including supporting details and examples, and reviewing your outline, you can create an effective outline that will guide you through the writing process.

Develop the Body Paragraphs

Once you have identified the main causes and effects of the topic you are writing about, it is time to develop your body paragraphs. In these paragraphs, you will present specific evidence and examples to support your claims. The body of your essay should be well-structured and focused, with each paragraph addressing a single cause or effect.

Start each body paragraph with a topic sentence that clearly states the main point you will be discussing. Then, provide detailed explanations and evidence to support your argument. This can include statistics, research findings, expert opinions, or personal anecdotes. Remember to use clear and concise language to convey your ideas effectively.

In order to make your writing more coherent, you can use transition words and phrases to connect your ideas and create a logical flow between paragraphs. Words like “because”, “as a result”, “therefore”, and “consequently” can be used to show cause and effect relationships.

Additionally, it is important to use paragraph unity, which means that each paragraph should focus on a single cause or effect. Avoid including unrelated information or discussing multiple causes/effects in a single paragraph, as this can confuse the reader and weaken your argument.

Furthermore, consider using examples and evidence to enhance the clarity and persuasiveness of your arguments. Concrete examples and real-life scenarios can help illustrate the cause and effect relationship and make your writing more engaging to the reader.

• Use accurate data and precise details to back up your claims
• Include relevant research and studies to support your arguments
• Provide real-life examples and cases that demonstrate the cause and effect relationship

In conclusion, developing the body paragraphs of your cause and effect essay is crucial in presenting a well-structured and persuasive argument. By using topic sentences, clear explanations, transition words, and relevant evidence, you can effectively convey your ideas and convince the reader of the cause and effect relationship you are discussing.

Related Post

How to master the art of writing expository essays and captivate your audience, convenient and reliable source to purchase college essays online, step-by-step guide to crafting a powerful literary analysis essay, unlock success with a comprehensive business research paper example guide, unlock your writing potential with writers college – transform your passion into profession, “unlocking the secrets of academic success – navigating the world of research papers in college”, master the art of sociological expression – elevate your writing skills in sociology.

• I nfographics
• Show AWL words
• Subscribe to newsletter
• What is academic writing?
• Academic Style
• What is the writing process?
• Understanding the title
• Brainstorming
• Researching
• First draft
• Proofreading
• Report writing
• Compare & contrast
• Cause & effect
• Problem-solution
• Classification
• Essay structure
• Introduction
• Literature review
• Book review
• Research proposal
• Thesis/dissertation
• What is cohesion?
• Cohesion vs coherence
• Transition signals
• What are references?
• In-text citations
• Reference sections
• Reporting verbs
• Band descriptors

Show AWL words on this page.

Levels 1-5:     grey  Levels 6-10:   orange 

Show sorted lists of these words.

Any words you don't know? Look them up in the website's built-in dictionary .

Choose a dictionary .  Wordnet  OPTED  both

Cause & effect essays Aka reason and result

The Cause and effect essay is another common essay type, either as an essay type on its own, or as part of a larger essay which includes one or more paragraphs examining causes and effects. This page gives information on what a cause and effect essay is , how to structure this type of essay, and how to use cause and effect structure words (transition signals) for this type of essay. There is also an example cause and effect essay on the topic of women at work, as well as some exercises to help you practice this area.

What are cause & effect essays?

For another look at the same content, check out YouTube » or Youku » , or this infographic » .

A cause and effect essay looks at the reasons (or causes) for something, then discusses the results (or effects). For this reason, cause and effect essays are sometimes referred to as reason and result essays. They are one of the most common forms of organisation in academic writing. Sometimes the whole essay will be cause and effect, though sometimes this may be only part of the whole essay. It is also possible, especially for short exam essays, that only the causes or the effects, not both, are discussed. See the examples below.

• Discuss the causes and effects of global warming ['cause and effect' essay]
• Explain the high death rate in Chernobyl ['causes' only essay]
• Discuss the WTO and its effects on the Chinese economy ['effects' only essay]

There are two main ways to structure a cause and effect essay. These are similar to the ways to structure problem-solution essays , namely using a block or a chain structure. For the block structure, all of the causes are listed first, and all of the effects are listed afterwards. For the chain structure, each cause is followed immediately by the effect. Usually that effect will then be the cause of the next effect, which is why this structure is called 'chain'. Both types of structure have their merits. The former is generally clearer, especially for shorter essays, while the latter ensures that any effects you present relate directly to the causes you have given.

The two types of structure, block and chain , are shown in the diagram below.

Cause and Effect Structure Words

Cause and effect structure words are transition signals which show the cause and effect relationships. It is important to be clear which is the cause (or reason) and which is the effect (or result), and to use the correct transition word or phrase. Remember that a cause happens first , and the effect happens later .

Below are some common cause and effect structure words. X is used to indicate a cause, while Y is used to indicate the effect.

• The first cause of (Y) is (X)
• The next reason is (X)
• Because of (X), (Y)
• As a result of (X), (Y)
• As a consequence of (X), (Y)
• because/since/as (X)
• to result from (X)
• (X) results in (Y)
• to be the result of (X)
• (Y) is due to (X)
• Owing to (X), (Y)
• (Y) is because of (X)
• (Y) is the effect of (X)
• (Y) is the consequence of (X)
• Worsening pollution levels in cities are due to the increased use of cars.
• Because of the increased use of cars, pollution levels in cities are worsening.
• As a result of the increased use of cars, pollution levels in cities are worsening.
• The effect of the increased use of cars is a worsening of pollution levels in cities.
• The first effect of (X) is (Y)
• Another result of (X) is (Y)
• As a result, (Y)
• As a consequence, (Y)
• Consequently (Y)
• Therefore, (Y)
• (X) causes (Y)
• (X) has an effect on (Y)
• (X) affects (Y)
• (X) is one of the causes of (Y)
• (X) is the reason for (Y)
• Cars are used increasingly for urban transport. As a consequence , pollution levels in cities are worsening.
• Increased use of cars for urban transport adversely affects pollution levels in cities.
• Increased use of cars for urban transport is one of the causes of worsening pollution levels in cities.

Example essay

Below is a cause and effect essay. This essay uses the block structure . Click on the different areas (in the shaded boxes to the right) to highlight the different structural aspects in this essay, i.e. Causes, Effects, and structure words. This will highlight not simply the paragraphs, but also the thesis statement and summary , as these repeat the causes and effects contained in the main body.

Title: More and more women are now going out to work and some women are now the major salary earner in the family. What are the causes of this, and what effect is this having on families and society?

In the past, most women stayed at home to take care of domestic chores such as cooking or cleaning. Women's liberation and feminism have meant that this situation has been transformed and in contemporary society women are playing an almost equal role to men in terms of work. This has had significant consequences , both in terms of the family , for example by improving quality of life and increasing children's sense of independence , and also for society itself with greater gender equality . The main reasons behind the increase of women in the workplace are women's liberation and feminism. The women's liberation movement originated in the 1960s and was popularised by authors such as Simone de Beauvoir. As a consequence of this, new legislation emerged, granting women equal rights to men in many fields, in particular employment. Because of feminist ideas, men have taken up roles which were previously seen as being for women only, most importantly those related to child rearing. As a result of this, women have more time to pursue their own careers and interests. These have led to some significant effects, both to family life and to society as a whole. Although the earning capacity of a woman in her lifetime is generally much less than that of a man, she can nevertheless make a significant contribution to the family income. The most important consequence of this is an improved quality of life. By helping to maintain a steady income for the family, the pressure on the husband is considerably reduced, hence improving both the husband's and the wife's emotional wellbeing. Additionally, the purchasing power of the family will also be raised. This means that the family can afford more luxuries such as foreign travel and a family car. A further effect on the family is the promotion of independence in the children. Some might argue that having both parents working might be damaging to the children because of a lack of parental attention. However, such children have to learn to look after themselves at an earlier age, and their parents often rely on them to help with the housework. This therefore teaches them important life skills. As regards society, the most significant impact of women going to work is greater gender equality. There are an increasing number of women who are becoming politicians, lawyers, and even CEOs and company managers. This in turn has led to greater equality for women in all areas of life, not just employment. For example, women today have much stronger legal rights to protect themselves against domestic violence and sexual discrimination in the workplace. In conclusion, the increasing number of women at work has brought about some important changes to family life, including improved quality of life and increased independence for children, as well as affecting society itself. It is clear that the sexes are still a long way from being equal in all areas of life, however, and perhaps the challenge for the present century is to ensure that this takes place.

GET FREE EBOOK

Like the website? Try the books. Enter your email to receive a free sample from Academic Writing Genres .

Below is a checklist for cause and effect essays. Use it to check your own writing, or get a peer (another student) to help you.

Next section

Find out how to write problem-solution essays in the next section.

Previous section

Go back to the previous section about compare & contrast essays .

• Compare/contrast

You need to login to view the exercises. If you do not already have an account, you can register for free.

• Register        
• Forgot password        
• Resend activiation email

Author: Sheldon Smith    ‖    Last modified: 16 January 2022.

Sheldon Smith is the founder and editor of EAPFoundation.com. He has been teaching English for Academic Purposes since 2004. Find out more about him in the about section and connect with him on Twitter , Facebook and LinkedIn .

Compare & contrast essays examine the similarities of two or more objects, and the differences.

Cause & effect essays consider the reasons (or causes) for something, then discuss the results (or effects).

Discussion essays require you to examine both sides of a situation and to conclude by saying which side you favour.

Problem-solution essays are a sub-type of SPSE essays (Situation, Problem, Solution, Evaluation).

Transition signals are useful in achieving good cohesion and coherence in your writing.

Reporting verbs are used to link your in-text citations to the information cited.

Common Transitions to Use in Cause and Effect Essay

We should probably start by asking ourselves what are transition words and what value do they add to an essay. You need to connect ideas in your essay to improve readability. If your points are isolated and unrelated, then reading becomes difficult and boring.

As a matter of fact, most software that checks for the readability of texts looks for the correct usage of transition words. Some people recommend that you can add transition words when you are revising the paper. However, you have to get a good flow from the beginning. This means that you should be adding these words as you write. Transition words are very many. Using them might be confusing and that is why this article breaks them down into 4 major types depending on how and where you can use them.

Transition words for essays help to ensure a smooth flow of ideas throughout the paper. They help readers understand the relationships between different parts of the text and navigate through the essay easily. However, sometimes it can be hard to find the right transition words for essays. Fortunately, there are services that provide cheap custom essays that use the right transition words and provide excellent structure to help you get the highest grade. Also, if you can’t do it yourself, we can help with college essays .

These are the kind of words that you will want to use when writing about a list of points in prose.

The words in this category are:

• Firstly, secondly, thirdly
• To begin with, initially, to start with, finally
• Subsequently, afterward, previously

The list is by no means endless. However, what you should know about words in this category is that they help you in introducing sentences of paragraphs that follow a sequence in prose. Using lists or numbers in an essay might be inappropriate and appear untidy. However, you might need to introduce related points and demonstrate that they are related. For instance, you want to write down three factors that lead to global warming. You might use “to begin with” for the first point, “secondly” for the second point, and “finally” for the third point. This will not only make it easy to read but show the reader that the points are related. Using transition words for essays is important to make your written work more professional, and to make your points clear and easy to follow. In addition, do your essays in a relevant way by adding new information that connects the text and the phrase. This will ensure that the essay flows effectively while making make the writing process smoother.

Finished papers

Customer reviews

Casual transition words show the relationship between sentences and paragraphs, where the proceeding point emerges as a cause or effect of the previous.

Some words in this category are:

• Consequently, as a result, due to the fact that
• Therefore, thus, otherwise
• For, since, unless

You can easily identify casual transition words by looking at the relationship they create between two sentences or paragraphs. For instance, you can have two independent sentences like: I was late for school. I was punished by the head teacher. You can improve readability by showing that the second action was as a result of the first. Your sentence can look something like this: “Due to the fact that I was late for school, I was punished by the head teacher. When using casual transitions, you should always be keen on establishing the nature of the relationship between sentences and paragraphs.

If you are stuck with writing your essay, you can even opt to hire an online academic writing service to write academic assignments for you . These services can provide you with a professional writer that can help you to create an essay that is well-written, concise, and equipped with the perfect transition words.

These are the kind of transitions you use when you want to show that the current point is an addition to the previous. You should not confuse additive with sequential. In the case of additive, the current point is only directly related to the previous. However, in the case of sequential, there is a relationship between all the points mentioned in the sequence.

Examples of additive transitions are:

• In addition to, furthermore, similarly, likewise
• In other words, to illustrate, for instance

You can use these words to explain in detail the previous point. They can be used to avoid run-on sentences where the reader is forced to read a long sentence without a pause.

For instance, let us consider the following sentences:

• Technology has made life easier through the introduction of gadgets such as smartphones and technology has also promoted peace
• Technology has made life easier through the introduction of gadgets such as smartphones. Furthermore, it has also promoted peace.

Adversative

These transitions accomplish the task opposite to additive transitions. Instead of adding, they show conflict between ideas.

Examples in this category are:

• Regardless, nonetheless, however
• Otherwise, regardless, on the other hand

The words in this category are mostly used when writing an analysis or argumentative essay. This is because you will mostly find that explaining opposing views will provide a better analysis or argument. You can also use these transitions to provide alternative, not necessarily opposing, views. The list of transition words is long because there are many examples. You will hear most students asking for examples of transition words. However, it is important to understand the different types and how they are used first. Once you are conversant with the types, you will only need to look at an example within a sentence to be able to use the same in an essay. When it comes to transition words, you will definitely need to improve your reading habits. With time they will sink in and you will find using them easy.

When you are writing an essay, it is important to use transition words to help the flow of your paper. Transition words help to make the essay more structured and offer a smoother reading experience. Transition words can be used in the introduction paragraph, in the body paragraphs, and in the conclusion paragraph. For example, you can use the words ‘first of all’ or ‘in order to’ at the beginning of your essay. In the body paragraphs, you can use transition words such as ‘moreover’, ‘furthermore’, or ‘in addition’. Finally, in the conclusion paragraph, you can use words such as ‘to conclude’ or ‘in conclusion’. In addition, you can order essay writing to get a professionally written paper.

Related posts:

• How to Write a Persuasive Essay?
• How to Write a Cause and Effect Essay
• How to Format Essay. Example MLA, APA Essay Format
• Best 25 Travel Blogs for Students 2023

Improve your writing with our guides

Writing a Great Research Summary and where to Get Help on it

How to Write a Synthesis Essay

How To Write A Process Essay: Essay Outline, Tips, Topics and Essay Help

Get 15% off your first order with edusson.

Connect with a professional writer within minutes by placing your first order. No matter the subject, difficulty, academic level or document type, our writers have the skills to complete it.

100% privacy. No spam ever.

• Main Idea Worksheets
• Capitalization
• Alphabet Coloring Pages
• Preschool Letter Worksheets
• Bubble Letters
• 5 Letter Words
• Words for Kids (A-Z Word Lists)
• Days of the Week
• Phonemic Awareness Worksheets
• Phonics Worksheets
• Sight Words
• Kindergarten Spelling
• 1st Grade Spelling
• 2nd Grade Spelling
• 3rd Grade Spelling
• Anchor Charts
• All About Me Templates
• Christmas Worksheets
• Cursive Writing
• Frayer Model Templates
• Fun Fact Friday
• Main Idea Graphic Organizers
• Noun Worksheet Maker
• Printable Lined Paper
• Reading Logs
• Sight Words Bingo
• Writing Prompts
• By grade, concept, theme
• By Common Core Standards
• By NGLS Standards

Cause and Effect Transition Words

What are cause and effect transition words?

Transition words also referred to as linking or connecting words, are tools used to create coherence and consistency (known as ‘flow’) in a piece of writing. Transition words (or phrases) link different points together to improve readability. Without these words, the relationship between ideas may be unclear to the reader. Transition words add logic, order, and structure to the writing.  They help the reader to follow the points by showing the connection between different phrases, sentences, or paragraphs. To learn about cause and effect transition words, keep reading!

Types of transition words 

There are four different types of transition words, which should be used depending on what the writer is trying to portray.  Each transition word has different meanings and implications. So before inserting a word into a paper, it’s critical to fully understand meaning and usage. Most transition words and phrases can appear in three places in a sentence: at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end. Some transitions can also be placed between two sentences.

Transition words fall into one of these categories:

Cause and effect transition words

Also referred to as causation, these connect a reason to a consequence.  Examples include “therefore”, and “because”.

Sequential transition words

These connect ideas or events to when they occur, chronologically.  Examples include “first of all” and “second”.

Additive transition words

These are used to add information. Examples include “furthermore” and “such as”.

Adversative transition words 

These are used to show contrast or conflict. Examples include “however” and “even though”.

Cause and effect 

Cause and effect transition words make a certain type of text, a cause and effect essay, easier to read. A cause and effect essay shows how two or more events are related.  The transition words help to provide either a reason or a consequence and give the reader a better idea of where to find the connection between two separate things.

Transition words to show cause (reason)

These are words and phrases that introduce a cause or reason.  They should be used at the beginning of a cause and effect essay. Some of these can be used interchangeably.

• Because/Since: Since can also be used to express time, for example, I have worked at the factory since 2010 .
• As a result of 
• Because of/Due to can be followed by “the fact that”

It is important to note that when these are used at the beginning of a sentence, an effect or consequence must be included at the end of the sentence. Depending on which transition is used, it will be followed by either a verb phrase or a noun phrase.

Because + [noun phrase]: Because it rained for days, the basement flooded.

Since + [verb phrase]: Since learning how to drive, she was always out. 

As a result of + [noun phrase]: As a result of the bad weather, the party was cut short.

**As a result of + [independent clause]: She was late; as a result, we missed the beginning of the lecture.

As + [verb phrase]: As I was tired, I made several mistakes.

Because of + [noun phrase]: Because of the depression, many people relied on food pantries. 

Due to + [noun phrase]: Due to the traffic, he was late for work. 

Owing to + [noun phrase]: Owing to the national holiday, she had the day off from work .

Transition words to show effect (consequence)

The following are words and phrases that introduce an effect or consequence.  They should be used after a sentence or paragraph that describes a cause. Some of these can be used interchangeably.

• So/Therefore/As a result
• Consequently/Accordingly/As such
• On account of 
• For that reason

How to properly use transitions

• Make sure the word or phrase matches the connection being made. It is unhelpful to throw transition words into an essay without proper use.
• Certain transitions are considered relatively formal, such as “hence”, and “thus”. Therefore, these should be used only in formal writing.
• It’s important that transition words are not overused or the reader may feel like the relationship is over explaining relationships that are already clear.
• If the transition is at the beginning of the sentence, you must use a comma. If the transition is not at the beginning a comma is not necessary.
• Words like “because”, “since”, and “as” are known as subordinating conjunctions. They start clauses that cannot exist on their own.  If a clause is introduced by a word like this it should always follow or be followed by another clause in the same sentence.
• Example 1: Because it rained. This is incorrect. 
• Example 2: Because it rained, I did not go to the beach. This is correct.

Remember that transition words with similar meanings are not all interchangeable. Understanding the meaning of the word or phrase before use is crucial.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Academic writing
• Transition Words & Phrases | List & Examples

Transition Words & Phrases | List & Examples

Published on May 29, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 23, 2023.

Transition words and phrases (also called linking words, connecting words, or transitional words) are used to link together different ideas in your text. They help the reader to follow your arguments by expressing the relationships between different sentences or parts of a sentence.

The proposed solution to the problem did not work. Therefore , we attempted a second solution. However , this solution was also unsuccessful.

For clear writing, it’s essential to understand the meaning of transition words and use them correctly.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

When and how to use transition words, types and examples of transition words, common mistakes with transition words, other interesting articles.

Transition words commonly appear at the start of a new sentence or clause (followed by a comma ), serving to express how this clause relates to the previous one.

Transition words can also appear in the middle of a clause. It’s important to place them correctly to convey the meaning you intend.

Example text with and without transition words

The text below describes all the events it needs to, but it does not use any transition words to connect them. Because of this, it’s not clear exactly how these different events are related or what point the author is making by telling us about them.

If we add some transition words at appropriate moments, the text reads more smoothly and the relationship among the events described becomes clearer.

Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Consequently , France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. The Soviet Union initially worked with Germany in order to partition Poland. However , Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.

Don’t overuse transition words

While transition words are essential to clear writing, it’s possible to use too many of them. Consider the following example, in which the overuse of linking words slows down the text and makes it feel repetitive.

In this case the best way to fix the problem is to simplify the text so that fewer linking words are needed.

The key to using transition words effectively is striking the right balance. It is difficult to follow the logic of a text with no transition words, but a text where every sentence begins with a transition word can feel over-explained.

Check for common mistakes

Use the best grammar checker available to check for common mistakes in your text.

Fix mistakes for free

There are four main types of transition word: additive, adversative, causal, and sequential. Within each category, words are divided into several more specific functions.

Remember that transition words with similar meanings are not necessarily interchangeable. It’s important to understand the meaning of all the transition words you use. If unsure, consult a dictionary to find the precise definition.

Additive transition words

Additive transition words introduce new information or examples. They can be used to expand upon, compare with, or clarify the preceding text.

Adversative transition words

Adversative transition words always signal a contrast of some kind. They can be used to introduce information that disagrees or contrasts with the preceding text.

Causal transition words

Causal transition words are used to describe cause and effect. They can be used to express purpose, consequence, and condition.

Sequential transition words

Sequential transition words indicate a sequence, whether it’s the order in which events occurred chronologically or the order you’re presenting them in your text. They can be used for signposting in academic texts.

Transition words are often used incorrectly. Make sure you understand the proper usage of transition words and phrases, and remember that words with similar meanings don’t necessarily work the same way grammatically.

Misused transition words can make your writing unclear or illogical. Your audience will be easily lost if you misrepresent the connections between your sentences and ideas.

Confused use of therefore

“Therefore” and similar cause-and-effect words are used to state that something is the result of, or follows logically from, the previous. Make sure not to use these words in a way that implies illogical connections.

• We asked participants to rate their satisfaction with their work from 1 to 10. Therefore , the average satisfaction among participants was 7.5.

The use of “therefore” in this example is illogical: it suggests that the result of 7.5 follows logically from the question being asked, when in fact many other results were possible. To fix this, we simply remove the word “therefore.”

• We asked participants to rate their satisfaction with their work from 1 to 10. The average satisfaction among participants was 7.5.

Starting a sentence with also , and , or so

While the words “also,” “and,” and “so” are used in academic writing, they are considered too informal when used at the start of a sentence.

• Also , a second round of testing was carried out.

To fix this issue, we can either move the transition word to a different point in the sentence or use a more formal alternative.

• A second round of testing was also carried out.
• Additionally , a second round of testing was carried out.

Transition words creating sentence fragments

Words like “although” and “because” are called subordinating conjunctions . This means that they introduce clauses which cannot stand on their own. A clause introduced by one of these words should always follow or be followed by another clause in the same sentence.

The second sentence in this example is a fragment, because it consists only of the “although” clause.

• Smith (2015) argues that the period should be reassessed. Although other researchers disagree.

We can fix this in two different ways. One option is to combine the two sentences into one using a comma. The other option is to use a different transition word that does not create this problem, like “however.”

• Smith (2015) argues that the period should be reassessed, although other researchers disagree.
• Smith (2015) argues that the period should be reassessed. However , other researchers disagree.

And vs. as well as

Students often use the phrase “ as well as ” in place of “and,” but its usage is slightly different. Using “and” suggests that the things you’re listing are of equal importance, while “as well as” introduces additional information that is less important.

• Chapter 1 discusses some background information on Woolf, as well as presenting my analysis of To the Lighthouse .

In this example, the analysis is more important than the background information. To fix this mistake, we can use “and,” or we can change the order of the sentence so that the most important information comes first. Note that we add a comma before “as well as” but not before “and.”

• Chapter 1 discusses some background information on Woolf and presents my analysis of To the Lighthouse .
• Chapter 1 presents my analysis of To the Lighthouse , as well as discussing some background information on Woolf.

Note that in fixed phrases like “both x and y ,” you must use “and,” not “as well as.”

• Both my results as well as my interpretations are presented below.
• Both my results and my interpretations are presented below.

Use of and/or

The combination of transition words “and/or” should generally be avoided in academic writing. It makes your text look messy and is usually unnecessary to your meaning.

First consider whether you really do mean “and/or” and not just “and” or “or.” If you are certain that you need both, it’s best to separate them to make your meaning as clear as possible.

• Participants were asked whether they used the bus and/or the train.
• Participants were asked whether they used the bus, the train, or both.

Archaic transition words

Words like “hereby,” “therewith,” and most others formed by the combination of “here,” “there,” or “where” with a preposition are typically avoided in modern academic writing. Using them makes your writing feel old-fashioned and strained and can sometimes obscure your meaning.

• Poverty is best understood as a disease. Hereby , we not only see that it is hereditary, but acknowledge its devastating effects on a person’s health.

These words should usually be replaced with a more explicit phrasing expressing how the current statement relates to the preceding one.

• Poverty is best understood as a disease. Understanding it as such , we not only see that it is hereditary, but also acknowledge its devastating effects on a person’s health.

Using a paraphrasing tool for clear writing

With the use of certain tools, you can make your writing clear. One of these tools is a paraphrasing tool . One thing the tool does is help your sentences make more sense. It has different modes where it checks how your text can be improved. For example, automatically adding transition words where needed.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or writing rules make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

 Academic Writing

• Avoiding repetition
• Effective headings
• Passive voice
• Taboo words
• Deep learning
• Generative AI
• Machine learning
• Reinforcement learning
• Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
• Plagiarism Checker
• Citation Generator

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, August 23). Transition Words & Phrases | List & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved July 30, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-writing/transition-words/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, using conjunctions | definition, rules & examples, transition sentences | tips & examples for clear writing, how to write topic sentences | 4 steps, examples & purpose, "i thought ai proofreading was useless but..".

I've been using Scribbr for years now and I know it's a service that won't disappoint. It does a good job spotting mistakes”

Cause and effect transition words for results and reasoning

Cause and effect transition words are important parts of speech when you want to link two actions or occurrences together and describe how one affects the other.

You may also hear these words and phrases referred to as ‘ discourse markers of reason ‘ or ‘ result transition words ‘ because they help with expressing the reason why a particular result will or will not occur.

Below you can find some of the most common transition words for cause and effect used in English, as well as some less common ones that may be reserved for formal writing such as essays and academic papers.

In each section we will explain how to structure sentences correctly using these words. We have also included lots of example sentences to help you understand how they might be used in everyday English.

Cause and effect transition words

When learning new reasoning transition words, it’s important to know not just what they are, but how to use them in a sentence.

Each of the words and phrases listed below can generally accompany either the cause or the effect in a clause, but not both.

Additionally, some of these discourse markers can only be used to state the effect before the cause; others only work when stating the cause before the effect. A few can be used either way.

Therefore, it’s important to consider which type of sentence you are forming, and structure it with an appropriate cause and effect transition word.

You might also want to describe conditional results, and we cover how to do this at the end of the article.

Simple transition words for cause and effect

Let’s begin with some of the most simple cause and effect transition words:

• Because (of)
• As a result of
• In order to/that

These are simple to learn because they all function in the same way. You just need to pay attention to which ones come before the cause, and which ones come before the effect.

“The class achieved excellent grades as a result of their teacher’s dedication.” “I’m going to be late because I missed my bus.” “ Thanks to an anonymous donor, the charity has been able to build a new animal shelter.” “ Due to unforeseen circumstances, the cafe will be closed today.” “ Since it’s your birthday, you may choose anything you like for breakfast.” “ As there is rain forecast today, we’d better not go to the zoo.” “ In order to make our guests more comfortable, we have introduced ergonomic seating.”

It doesn’t matter whether you are stating the cause or the effect first; you just move the position of the discourse marker accordingly. Here are the same statements, arranged the other way around:

“ As a result of their teacher’s dedication, the class achieved excellent grades.” “ Because I missed my bus, I’m going to be late.” “The charity has been able to build a new animal shelter thanks to an anonymous donor.” “The cafe will be closed today due to unforeseen circumstances.” “You may choose anything you like for breakfast, since it’s your birthday.” “We’d better not go to the zoo as there is rain forecast today. “We have introduced ergonomic seating in order to make our guests more comfortable.”

Note that it is not so common to use ‘because’ to begin a sentence, but it is still correct.

More advanced cause and effect transition words

There are other expressions which are not so forgiving and cannot so easily move position in a sentence.

Words and phrases that accompany the result or effect

The following transition words for cause and effect are used in the clause which states the result or effect:

• As a result [note: this is different to ‘as a result of’]
• Consequently
• Accordingly
• In that case
• With the result that
• Under those/these circumstances
• With this in mind
• With this intention
• To this/that end
• For this reason
• For this purpose
• With this purpose in mind
• For the same reason
• This/which means that
• In the hope that

“You’ve done an excellent job during your first three months at the company. Therefore , we’re awarding you a permanent contract.” “Manufacturing costs have increased a lot in the past year. As a result , we’ll have to raise our prices if we want to maintain a steady profit.” “We all had to work overtime at the office so that we could finish the project on time.” “I know there have been a lot of rumors going around the office lately. With this in mind , I want to set the record straight.” “Over half of our staff are off sick. Under these circumstances , we have no choice but to close the business temporarily.” “You must wash your hands regularly so as to avoid the spread of infections.” “One lane of the road is closed for repairs, with the result that the traffic is backed up for miles.” “They spent the day busking in the hope that they would have enough money to buy dinner.”

‘In that case’ is used to respond to information from someone else:

Giles: I’m going to order chocolate cake for dessert. Nicola: In that case , I’ll get a dessert too.

Note that hence and thus are not often used as conjunctions in spoken English, or in everyday writing. You may still see them used in traditional storytelling or in formal writing such as essays and papers. Overall, though, these words are being used less and less.

See also: Affect or effect – what’s the difference?

Words and phrases that accompany the cause or reason

Next, we have transition words which are placed in the clause that states the cause or reason:

• For fear that
• For the purpose of
• On account of
• In light of
• Seeing that/as

“Hannah never walks under a ladder, for fear that it will bring her bad luck.” “The store is closed today for the purpose of staff training.” “ In view of the recent attacks, we have increased the number of police on the street.” “ Seeing as Christmas is only a few weeks away, I’d better start shopping for gifts.” “ Owing to the recession, we are having to lay off some staff.” “We have stopped accepting cash on account of the high number of forged bills we were receiving.” “ Based on the evidence provided, we must presume this man is guilty.”

See also: Presume vs assume

Cause and effect transition words with conditions

Sometimes you need to state that a certain result will occur IF a certain condition applies. In this case, you need conditional result transition words .

The most common way to express conditions is with ‘If… then…’:

“If it’s sunny tomorrow then I’ll walk to work.”

And often we replace ‘then’ with a comma:

“If it’s sunny tomorrow, I’ll walk to work.”

We can also reverse this structure:

“I’ll walk to work if it’s sunny tomorrow.” “I’ll walk to work tomorrow if it’s sunny.”

We have a separate article about if vs whether , in case you’re wondering about the difference.

However, there are many more varied cause and effect transition words for conditional results. If an outcome is based on a condition that may or may not be met (in the future), try using one of these:

• In the event that/of
• Assuming that
• On the condition that
• Provided that

“ In the event that it rains, we’ll have to perform the concert in the hall instead of the garden.” “ Assuming that there are no objections, we will proceed.” “I’ll come with you to the movies, as long as I can choose the film.” “ Unless we receive this payment by the end of the week, your account will be put on hold.” “ Whenever it’s sunny, we walk along the beach.” “You may go out with your friends, provided that you are home by 8pm.” “ Only if I make a profit on this novel will I consider writing another.” “Remember to bring your coat, otherwise you’ll be cold.”

‘Otherwise’ can also be used to present the alternative option in a scenario:

“If it’s sunny tomorrow, I’ll walk to work. Otherwise , I’ll take the bus.”

We have covered a lot of cause and effect transition words here! Can you think of any others? Feel free to leave a comment below to share them.

If you found this article useful, take a look at these other articles which cover different kinds of discourse markers:

Addition transition words Compare and contrast transition words Similarity transition words Discourse markers for giving examples Discourse markers for order and structure Discourse markers for concluding

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and site URL in my browser for next time I post a comment.

Sign me up for the newsletter!

Transition words for cause and effect with examples

Transition words for cause and effect.

Have you ever read a piece of writing where the ideas felt scattered and disconnected? Often, the culprit is a lack of transition words . These little gems act like signposts, guiding your reader through the cause-and-effect relationships within your writing.

List of Transition words for cause

• On account of
• As a result of
• In consequence of
• For the reason that
• Seeing that
• In light of
• Considering that
• Considering
• As a result
• Consequently
• Accordingly

List of Transition words for effect

• For this reason
• This is why
• For that reason
• Because of this
• As a consequence
• On that account
• Resulting in
• Bringing about

Transition words for cause with examples

• Because : “She stayed indoors because it was raining heavily outside.”
• Since : “Since it was late, they decided to call it a night and head home.”
• As : “As the temperature dropped, people bundled up in warm clothing.”
• Due to : “The event was canceled due to inclement weather conditions.”
• Owing to : “Owing to his hard work and dedication, he received a promotion.”
• Thanks to : “Thanks to her support, the project was completed ahead of schedule.”
• On account of : “On account of his absence, the meeting was postponed.”
• As a result of : “As a result of the heavy traffic, they arrived late to the party.”
• In consequence of : “In consequence of the budget cuts, several programs were discontinued.”
• For the reason that : “They decided to cancel the trip for the reason that they couldn’t secure accommodation.”
• Seeing that : “Seeing that the store was closing soon, they hurried to finish their shopping.”
• Given that : “Given that it was a holiday, the roads were congested with traffic.”
• In light of : “In light of recent events, security measures have been increased.”
• Considering that : “Considering that it was his first attempt, he performed exceptionally well.”
• Considering : “Considering the circumstances, their decision was understandable.”
• As a result : “She missed the bus, and as a result, she was late for work.”
• Consequently : “They overslept; consequently, they missed their flight.”
• Thus : “They ran out of fuel; thus, they couldn’t continue their journey.”
• Therefore : “The bridge was closed for repairs; therefore, they had to find an alternate route.”
• Hence : “He forgot his keys at home; hence, he couldn’t unlock the door.”
• Accordingly : “The company’s profits declined; accordingly, cost-cutting measures were implemented.”
• So : “He didn’t study for the exam; so, he didn’t perform well.”

Transition words for effect with examples

• Therefore : “She missed the bus; therefore, she was late for work.”
• Thus : “The road was closed; thus, they had to take a detour.”
• Consequently : “He didn’t study for the exam; consequently, he failed.”
• As a result : “The team worked hard; as a result, they won the championship.”
• Hence : “He forgot his umbrella; hence, he got wet in the rain.”
• Accordingly : “The project was completed ahead of schedule; accordingly, they received bonuses.”
• So : “He missed his flight; so, he had to take the next one.”
• For this reason : “She had a sore throat; for this reason, she couldn’t sing at the concert.”
• This is why : “He didn’t pay attention in class; this is why he failed the test.”
• For that reason : “She was allergic to seafood; for that reason, she couldn’t eat sushi.”
• Because of this : “He forgot to set the alarm; because of this, he overslept.”
• As a consequence : “The store was closed; as a consequence, they had to find another place to shop.”
• So that : “She wore a jacket so that she wouldn’t catch a cold.”
• On that account : “The food was spicy; on that account, he drank lots of water.”
• Resulting in : “The heavy rain caused flooding, resulting in traffic congestion.”
• Bringing about : “His hard work brought about positive changes in his life.”

Transition words for effect

Transition words for cause

So, the next time you write, remember the power of transition words for cause and effect! They’ll help you build a strong logical flow within your writing, guiding your reader on a clear journey from reasons to results.

Download the Word of the day

Related Posts:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Download the Word coach App on your Android phone

Word Coach - IELTS and GRE Vocabulary Builder & word coach Quiz (10 Words a Day) application helps, you and your friends to improve English Vocabulary and help you become the smartest among your group.

Cause and Effect in Composition

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

In composition , cause and effect is a method of paragraph or essay development in which a writer analyzes the reasons for—and/or the consequences of—an action, event, or decision.

A cause-and-effect paragraph or essay can be organized in various ways. For instance, causes and/or effects can be arranged in either chronological order or reverse chronological order. Alternatively, points can be presented in terms of emphasis , from least important to most important, or vice versa.

Examples and Observations

• "If you prove the cause , you at once prove the effect ; and conversely nothing can exist without its cause." (Aristotle, Rhetoric )
• Immediate Causes and Ultimate Causes "Determining causes and effects is usually thought-provoking and quite complex. One reason for this is that there are two types of causes: immediate causes , which are readily apparent because they are closest to the effect, and ultimate causes , which, being somewhat removed, are not so apparent and may perhaps even be hidden. Furthermore, ultimate causes may bring about effects which themselves become immediate causes, thus creating a causal chain . For example, consider the following causal chain: Sally, a computer salesperson, prepared extensively for a meeting with a client (ultimate cause), impressed the client (immediate cause), and made a very large sale (effect). The chain did not stop there: the large sale caused her to be promoted by her employer (effect)." (Alfred Rosa and Paul Eschholz, Models for Writers , 6th ed. St. Martin's Press, 1998)
• Composing a Cause/Effect Essay "For all its conceptual complexity, a cause/effect essay can be organized quite simply. The introduction generally presents the subject(s) and states the purpose of the analysis in a clear thesis . The body of the paper then explores all relevant causes and/or effects, typically progressing from least to most influential or from most to least influential. Finally, the concluding section summarizes the various cause/effect relationships established in the body of the paper and clearly states the conclusions that can be drawn from those relationships." (Kim Flachmann, Michael Flachmann, Kathryn Benander, and Cheryl Smith, The Brief Prose Reader . Prentice Hall, 2003)
• Causes of Child Obesity "Many of today's kids are engaged in sedentary pursuits made possible by a level of technology unthinkable as recently as 25 to 30 years ago. Computer, video, and other virtual games, the ready availability of feature films and games on DVD, plus high-tech advancements in music-listening technology have come down into the range of affordability for parents and even for the kids themselves. These passive pursuits have produced a downside of reduced physical activity for the kids, often with the explicit or implicit consent of the parents. . . . "Other fairly recent developments have also contributed to the alarming rise in child obesity rates. Fast food outlets offering consumables that are both low in price and low in nutritional content have exploded all over the American landscape since the 1960s, especially in suburban areas close to major highway interchanges. Kids on their lunch breaks or after school often congregate in these fast food outlets, consuming food and soft drinks that are high in sugar, carbohydrates, and fat. Many parents, themselves, frequently take their children to these fast food places, thus setting an example the kids can find justification to emulate." (MacKie Shilstone, Mackie Shilstone's Body Plan for Kids . Basic Health Publications, 2009)
• Cause and Effect in Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" "'A Modest Proposal' is a brilliant example of the use of non-argumentative devices of rhetorical persuasion . The whole essay, of course, rests broadly upon the argument of cause and effect : these causes have produced this situation in Ireland, and this proposal will result in these effects in Ireland. But Swift, within the general framework of this argument, does not employ specific argumentative forms in this essay. The projector chooses rather to assert his reasons and then to amass them by way of proof ." (Charles A. Beaumont, Swift's Classical Rhetoric . Univ. of Georgia Press, 1961)
• Effects of Automobiles "I worry about the private automobile. It is a dirty, noisy, wasteful, and lonely means of travel. It pollutes the air, ruins the safety and sociability of the street, and exercises upon the individual a discipline which takes away far more freedom than it gives him. It causes an enormous amount of land to be unnecessarily abstracted from nature and from plant life and to become devoid of any natural function. It explodes cities, grievously impairs the whole institution of neighborliness, fragmentizes and destroys communities. It has already spelled the end of our cities as real cultural and social communities, and has made impossible the construction of any others in their place. Together with the airplane, it has crowded out other, more civilized and more convenient means of transport, leaving older people, infirm people, poor people and children in a worse situation than they were a hundred years ago." (George F. Kennan, Democracy and the Student Left , 1968)
• Examples and Effects of Entropy "Because of its unnerving irreversibility, entropy has been called the arrow of time. We all understand this instinctively. Children's rooms, left on their own, tend to get messy, not neat. Wood rots, metal rusts, people wrinkle and flowers wither. Even mountains wear down; even the nuclei of atoms decay. In the city we see entropy in the rundown subways and worn-out sidewalks and torn-down buildings, in the increasing disorder of our lives. We know, without asking, what is old. If we were suddenly to see the paint jump back on an old building, we would know that something was wrong. If we saw an egg unscramble itself and jump back into its shell, we would laugh in the same way we laugh as a movie run backward." (K.C. Cole, "The Arrow of Time." The New York Times , March 18, 1982)
• Affect vs. Effect: How to Choose the Right Word
• Understanding General-to-Specific Order in Composition
• Definition and Examples of the Topoi in Rhetoric
• What Is an Annotation in Reading, Research, and Linguistics?
• How to Use Exemplification in Writing
• Polemic: Definition and Examples
• Learn How to Use Extended Definitions in Essays and Speeches
• Understanding Organization in Composition and Speech
• Periodical Essay Definition and Examples
• What Does It Mean to Make a Claim During an Argument?
• Definition and Examples of Formal Essays
• Definition and Examples of Propaganda
• Definition and Examples of Humorous Essays
• Organizational Strategies for Using Chronological Order in Writing
• Definition Examples of Collage Essays

How to Write a Cause and Effect Essay

Writing essays is inevitable for all students. And while many of them consider this kind of academic assignment difficult and boring, others truly enjoy writing their essays on the widest array of topics. Do you want to know their secret? It’s simple: they just know how to write essays well! And those who don't also have a solution – they are ready to pay for essay best services to get completed paper without a hassle. Finding the essay writing service out there to fall back on is great but honing your own writing skills will never go amiss.

If you are reading this article, then you’re already on your way to start loving essay writing. By the time you finish reading it, you will have all the necessary instruments at hand to craft an impressive essay of one particular type – that is, a cause and effect essay (sometimes also called cause-effect or reason and result essay).

What Is a Cause and Effect Essay?

It is impossible to do something well without knowing what exactly it is that you have to do. So, let’s start with the basics – the cause and effect essay definition.

A cause and effect essay (also called cause-effect or reason and result essay) is a type of an analytical academic paper in which the relationship between causes and effects of a particular event or phenomenon is being analyzed. It usually answers the questions, “why?” (cause) and “what is the result?” (effect), and utilizes subjunctive mood extensively. If already at this moment you feel you're unlikely to be able to cope with writing an essay yourself – relax and get help from professional dissertation writing services .

How to Make a Correct Cause and Effect Essay Structure

Now that we know what a cause and effect essay is, we can start working on its structure. Having a clear structure is essential for the successful completion of your assignment. So, it’s highly important to devote enough time to this part of the task. If you think it's pretty challenging for you or you simply don't want to spend time on it, you can always look for coursework writing help , custom essay writing and get help from experts in the field.

There are two main ways to structure a cause and effect essay – using a block or a chain pattern. Your essay outline will differ depending on what option you choose.

Struggling with your Cause and Effect Essay Homework?

Get your assignments done by real pros. Save your precious time and boost your marks with ease.

Cause and Effect Essay Outline

A cause and effect essay outline consists of a minimum of four sections – an introduction, at least two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each section, in turn, consists of several parts, and their contents vary depending on what pattern – block or chain – you choose.

Let’s start with a block structure.  This is how it will look like:

• Introduction;
• Body paragraph I: cause;
• Body paragraph II: effect;
• Conclusion.

Depending on your topic and approach, you can focus more on the effects or the causes and have various numbers of both. For example, if you put the main focus on the effects, your outline may look like this:

• Body paragraph I: effect #1;
• Body paragraph II: effect #2;
• Body paragraph III: cause;

If you choose the chain pattern, it will mean that in your body paragraphs, every cause will be immediately followed by its effect. The outline will then be as follows:

• Body paragraph I: cause #1 -> effect #1;
• Body paragraph II: cause #2 -> effect #2;   

In this case, too, the numbers of causes and effects may vary – it is their sequence that matters.

Now, let’s look closer at every section of the structure.

Introduction

Every essay starts with an introduction. In this section, you must introduce your topic to the reader, give some background information, and explain how you’re going to approach the discussion.

This is what an introduction section of a cause and effect essay must include:

• Background information;
• Thesis statement.

If you’re wondering how to start a cause and effect essay, you can use some of the proven techniques like using a quote, a rhetorical question, or a statement that is surprising or paradoxical. Then, after giving some background information, move on to a thesis statement.

A thesis is the part of your essay in which the main point of discussion is stated. It should be clear and concise and allow no ambiguity.

Example: “The gender gap is still very far from being closed. Globally, gender parity stands at 68.6%, according to the Global Gender Gap Report (2020). In this essay, we’ll look closely at some of the causes and effects of this phenomenon”.

Body Paragraphs (Causes)

Depending on what type of structure you choose, your body paragraphs may be slightly different. But, in any case, they should contain the following elements:

• thesis (main cause or effect);
• arguments (evidence);
• conclusion, and transition to the next section.

These may be arranged in a different way, but their presence is essential. Let’s again turn to our gender inequality topic and see how it works. In the causes section, we will list the various causes of the discussed phenomena:

• Cause #1 – societal mindset;
• Cause #2 – lack of sufficient childcare;
• Cause #3 – lack of political representation.

Each of these causes should be supported by evidence to be persuasive to the reader. This is how it may be put in a paragraph:

“One of the main causes of such inequality is the societal mindset that still regards women as primarily being responsible for providing home comfort and childcare. Most men still expect their wives to stay at home and sacrifice their careers in order to take the majority of household responsibilities (support with evidence – statistical figures, etc.).

Treat the next causes in the same manner.

Body Paragraphs (Effects)

This paragraph is basically the same as the previous one, with the only difference that here, we will discuss the effects of the phenomenon. Let’s continue with our topic:

• Effect #1 – higher levels of frustration;
• Effect #2 – lower income;
• Effect #3 – feelings of insecurity and vulnerability.

Keep in mind that the effects must be direct consequences of your causes – you can’t just pick random facts. You should also make that connection clear in your text.

Example: “Such prejudiced societal mindset regarding women and their role in the society results in higher levels of frustration among women. They feel that they have reached their glass ceiling just because of the fact that they have been born female – i.e., something they just couldn’t affect in any way (support with evidence)”.

Then, go on in the same manner in the next body-effects paragraphs.

After you’ve discussed all the causes and effects that you planned, continue with making a short conclusion. It must contain the following points:

• Reiteration of your thesis;
• Short summary of the essay’s key points;
• Concluding afterthoughts.

This is what it will look like in our case:

“As we see, gender inequality is still a pressing issue in the modern world, and it’s far from being solved. This phenomenon has multiple causes, the most obvious of which are society’s prejudiced attitude, lack of childcare, and lack of political representation for women. The effects of these problems are plausible: women end up feeling frustrated, having lower income, and being generally vulnerable. In order to change the situation, we mustn’t avoid discussions of this issue and should try to find solutions to the problems that cause it”.

Did you like our inspiring Cause and Effect Essay Guide?

Hire professional admission essay writer and get quality essay!

Interesting Cause and Effect Essay Topics

If you’re looking for an interesting topic for cause and effect essay, this section is for you. Listed below are some good cause and effect essay topics on various popular themes – history, politics, society, and more. Use them as examples to brainstorm ideas of your own.

History and politics:

• The economic consequences of the Civil War in the U.S.
• The collapse of the Soviet Union and its effect on the world’s power balance.
• World War II and its effect on the world economy.
• Brexit: was it necessary and how it will affect the U.K.
• Gender inequality as a major source of stress for modern women.
• How having children changes the life of a family.
• Social media as the major source of procrastination for students.
• Why do people commit crimes?
• How outstanding writing skills can help your future career.
• Burnout at work as a major career threat.
• Why it is important to go to college.
• Starting a business as a student. How it can affect your studies and future career.  

Environment:

• Air pollution as one of the main threats to public health.
• The effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the environment.
• How melting glaciers in the Arctic affect climate change on our planet.
• Multiple effects of global warming on the Earth’s population.
• Why we all need to go green right now.

Cause and Effect Essay Examples

Now that you have all the tools necessary to create a good cause and effect essay of your own let’s look at an example to see how all the components work together. Let’s assume that our topic is “Procrastination among college students.” Here, we will use a block structure, and this is how our example cause and effect essay will look like.

Procrastination Among College Students.

Our first paragraph is an introduction. Here we introduce our topic with a hook statement, give some background information, and make a thesis statement. 

Procrastination is dangerous for college students. At the same time, it’s extremely common among them: various studies show that up to 95% of college students engage in it from time to time, and almost 50% do this systematically. The causes of this phenomenon are multi-faceted and profound, and it’s vital to discover them in every particular case to be able to fight procrastination effectively. But to start treating procrastination as a problem, students must be aware of its harmful consequences. There are many of them, but one of the most acute ones for college students is its negative effect on their academic performance.

Here, the topic suggests that we have to focus more on the effects than on the causes, so the first body paragraph will be about an effect mentioned in the title. First, we will name the effect and then bring arguments and evidence to support our claim.

Procrastination is putting off things one has to do till the last minute and spending one’s time on some other, less important occupations. When students procrastinate instead of doing their academic assignments, they usually end up not having enough time to complete their tasks properly by the deadline. As a result, they only do what they can in the amount of time left, and the quality of their work may suffer. For most students, it means receiving lower grades than they could have achieved had they spent their time more wisely. And this is not a mere assumption: a study conducted by Warwick Business School has proven that procrastination leads students to lower grades (2019). One may argue that it depends largely on how gifted a student is, but even the talented ones may get to the point when the assignment is so difficult that they cannot do it well quickly.

Our second body paragraph will be about another effect. We will write it using the same scheme as in the previous paragraph.

What’s worse, procrastination can also cause mental health problems among students (Source, year). When a person finds out that they only have several hours to complete an assignment that requires several days to be done well, they are most likely to succumb to anxiety. Science proves this, too: for example, a 2010 study titled “I’ll Go to Therapy, Eventually” found a clear connection between procrastination and poorer mental health. Then, worries about failing to do a task properly resulted in even more anxiety and stress, and if a student eventually gets a lower grade than expected, it may lead to a feeling of guilt, regret, and even to depression, especially if the situation is repeated often.

In the third body paragraph, we will talk about the causes. 

It may be tempting to just label students who keep putting off their assignments as sluggards, but there are more complex and profound reasons for procrastination than mere laziness. As A. Chris Heath, MD, a psychiatrist from Dallas, says, procrastination usually happens because the task seems too difficult. It can also be an issue of self-esteem, he adds, – when a person thinks he or she is not good enough to cope with a demanding task. There are many other causes for procrastination among students, like having trouble concentrating or not possessing enough organizational skills. But whatever the reasons are, the results procrastination leads to are always devastating.

Conclusion. Here, we reiterate our thesis, site the significance of the topic, and add some afterthoughts.

As we see now, procrastination is a huge problem for college students. Being considered a result of pure laziness by many, it is often overlooked as a common problem. But this approach can be very dangerous.

In reality, procrastination has deeper roots, and the effects it causes are quite harmful. If treated lightly, systematic procrastination eventually leads college students to lower grades, mental health problems, and poorer overall academic performance.

So, it’s essential for every college student not to ignore the problem and find the causes of procrastination in their particular case as early as possible to be able to avoid its dreadful consequences.

That’s it! Feel free to use this essay as a model to generate your unique cause and effect essay ideas. If you need another example, download cause and effect essay sample here.   

Wrapping Up

In this article, we’ve covered all the important issues on how to write a cause and effect essay. After reading it thoroughly, you should know what a cause and effect essay is, how to structure it well, and make an outline that will work. We’ve also explained how to work on every paragraph of your text and provided some good essay topics as well as examples of a cause and effect essay with commentary. 

Still puzzled about how to write your cause and effect essay properly? Get instant write a paper for me help from professional editors and writers.  With such detailed instruction, you cannot fail, if you are diligent enough to practice writing essays on your own using the information given. Don’t get downhearted if you won’t be able to write a flawless paper from the first try; remember: practice makes perfect. So, put effort into your essay writing, and this will pay you back in the future – not only with excellent marks but with better critical thinking and logical skills, too.

Featured Posts

How to write a scholarship essay.

How to Write a Movie Review

How‌ ‌to‌ ‌Write‌ ‌an‌ ‌Argumentative‌ ‌Essay

How to Write an Expository Essay

How to Write an Analytical Essay

How to Write a Reflective Essay

Are you seeking one-on-one college counseling and/or essay support? Limited spots are now available. Click here to learn more.

190 Good Transition Words for Essays

August 23, 2023

Essay writing consists of two primary procedures: coming up with the content we want to include and structuring that content. These procedures might take place in either order or they could occur simultaneously. When writing an essay it is important to think about the ways that content and structure complement one another. The best essays join these two elements in thoughtful ways. Transition words for essays (including for college essays) are some of our most primary tools when it comes to structuring a piece of writing.

When beginning an essay it is often recommended to begin with a messy first draft. The purpose of this draft is to get everything out on the page. You should put down as many ideas and trajectories as you can without worrying too much about phrasing or whether they will make it into the final draft. The key here is to be loose—to get ahead of our self-editors and expel everything we can from our minds.

List of Good Transition Words for Essays (Continued)

While this is a good strategy for beginning an essay it will likely leave you unsure how everything fits together. This is where transition words come in. As you will see in this list (which is necessarily incomplete) the range of transition words for essays is vast. Each transition word implies a different relation, often in subtle ways. After accumulating content, the next step is to figure out how the elements fit together towards an overall goal (this could be but is not necessarily an “argument”). Consulting this list of transition words for essays can provide a shortcut for determining how one piece might lead into another. Along with transition words, rhetorical devices and literary devices are other tools to consider during this stage of essay writing.

Transition Words for College Essays

While this list will be a useful tool for all types of essay writing it will be particularly helpful when it comes to finding the right transition words for college essays . The goal of a college essay is to give a strong overall sense of its author in the tight space of 650 words. As you might imagine, it’s not easy to encompass a life or convey a complex personality in such a space. When writing a college essay you are working with a huge amount of potential content. Students often want to squeeze in as much as they can. To this end, transition words for college essays are essential tools to have at our disposal.

Here is our list of transition words for college essays and other essays. It is organized by the different types of transition words/phrases and their functions. While this organization should be convenient, keep in mind that there’s plenty of overlap. Many of these words can function in multiple ways.

1) Additive Transitions

These words function in an additive manner, accumulating content to build upon what has already been stated. They can be used to construct an argument or establish a scene through the accumulation of details.

• Additionally
• In addition to
• Furthermore
• Not to mention
• In all honesty
• To tell the truth
• Not only…but also
• As a matter of fact
• To say nothing of
• What’s more
• Alternatively
• To go a step further

 2) Comparative Transitions (Similarity)

  These transition words draw a parallel or bring out a similarity between images or ideas. They can be used not only in a straightforward sense but also to establish relations of similarity between objects or ideas that might appear to be dissonant.

• In the same way
• In a similar vein
• Along the lines of
• In the key of

 3) Comparative Transitions (Difference)

  While also functioning comparatively, the following words demonstrate difference between ideas or images. These transition words are useful when it comes to establishing contrasting points of view, an important component of any argument.

• On the other hand
• On the contrary
• In contrast to
• In contradiction
• Nevertheless
• Nonetheless
• In any event
• In any case
• In either event

4) Sequential Transitions

  The following are particularly effective transition words for college essays. They will allow you to order ideas chronologically or in a sequence, providing a sense of continuity over time. This is particularly useful when an essay leans into something more creative or involves telling a story.

• Subsequently
• At the same time
• Concurrently
• In the beginning
• At the start
• At the outset
• Off the bat

5) Spatial Transitions

Rather than organizing ideas or images in regards to sequence, these transitions indicate spatial relationships. They are particularly useful when it comes to painting a scene and/or describing objects, but they can also be used metaphorically. Consider, for example, how you might use the transition, “standing in […’s] shadow.”

• Standing in […’s] shadow
• In front of
• In the middle
• In the center
• To the left
• To the right
• On the side
• Adjacent to
• Around the bend
• On the outskirts
• In the distance
• On the horizon
• In the foreground
• In the background
• Underground
• Through the grapevine

 6) Causal Transitions

These transition words for essays indicate cause and effect relationships between ideas. They will be particularly useful when you are structuring a logical argument, i.e. using logos as a mode of persuasion . Causal transitions are an important element of academic, legal and scientific writing.

• Accordingly
• Resultingly
• As a result
• Consequently
• In consequence
• As a consequence
• For this reason
• So much that
• Granting that
• That being the case
• Under those circumstances
• With this in mind
• For the purpose of
• For all intents and purposes
• In the event that
• In the event of
• In light of
• On the condition that
• To the extent that

7) Examples/Illustration/Supporting Transition

  These transition words for college essays can be used to introduce supporting evidence, emphasis, examples, and clarification. There is some overlap here with additive transitions and causal transitions. These transitions are also useful when it comes to building an argument. At the same time, they can signal a shift into a different linguistic register.

• For example
• For instance
• In other words
• As an illustration
• To illustrate
• To put it differently
• To put it another way
• That is to say
• As the evidence illustrates
• It’s important to realize
• It’s important to understand
• It must be remembered
• To demonstrate
• For clarity’s sake
• To emphasize
• To put it plainly
• To enumerate
• To speak metaphorically

8) Conclusory Transitions

These transition words for essays serve to bring an idea or story to a close. They offer a clear way of signaling the conclusion of a particular train of thought. They might be followed by a summary or a restatement of an essay’s argument. In this way they also provide emphasis, setting the reader up for what is about to come.

• In conclusion
• To summarize
• To put it succinctly
• To this end
• At the end of the day
• In the final analysis
• By and large
• On second thought
• On first glance
• That’s all to say
• On the whole
• All things considered
• Generally speaking

List of Good Transition Words for Essays (Final Thoughts)

Even when elements appear to be disparate on first glance, transition words are a great tool for giving your essay a smooth flow. They can also create surprising juxtapositions, relationships, and equivalences. The way a reader will understand a transition word depends on the context in which they encounter it.

Individual words and phrases can be used in a wide variety of ways, ranging from the literal to the figurative to the colloquial or idiomatic. “Through the grapevine” is an example of the colloquial or idiomatic. When we encounter this phrase we don’t interpret it literally (as hearing something “through” a grapevine) but rather as hearing news secondhand. There are, of course, a vast number of idioms that are not included in this list but can also function as transitional phrases.

This list of transition words for college essays (and really any form of writing you might be working on) is a resource that you can return to again and again in your life as a writer. Over years of writing we tend to fall into patterns when it comes to the transition words we use. Mixing things up can be exciting both as a writer and for your readers. Even if you don’t choose to stray from your trusted transitions, considering the alternatives (and why they don’t work for you) can offer a deeper understanding of what you are trying to say.

List of Good Transition Words for Essays (An Exercise)

As an exercise in self-understanding, you may want to try highlighting all of the transition words in a piece of your own writing. You can then compare this to the transition words in a piece of writing that you admire. Are they using similar transitions or others? Are they using them more or less often? What do you like or dislike about them? We all use transition words differently, creating different tonal effects. Keeping an eye out for them, not only as a writer but also as a reader, will help you develop your own aesthetic.

• College Essay

Emmett Lewis

Emmett holds a BA in Philosophy from Vassar College and is currently completing an MFA in Writing at Columbia University. Previously, he served as a writing instructor within the Columbia Artists/Teachers community as well as a Creative Writing Teaching Fellow at Columbia, where he taught poetry workshops. In addition, Emmett is a member of the Poetry Board at the Columbia Journal , and his work has been published in HAD , Otoliths , and Some Kind of Opening , among others.

• 2-Year Colleges
• Application Strategies
• Best Colleges by Major
• Best Colleges by State
• Big Picture
• Career & Personality Assessment
• College Search/Knowledge
• College Success
• Costs & Financial Aid
• Data Visualizations
• Dental School Admissions
• Extracurricular Activities
• Graduate School Admissions
• High School Success
• High Schools
• Homeschool Resources
• Law School Admissions
• Medical School Admissions
• Navigating the Admissions Process
• Online Learning
• Outdoor Adventure
• Private High School Spotlight
• Research Programs
• Summer Program Spotlight
• Summer Programs
• Teacher Tools
• Test Prep Provider Spotlight

“Innovative and invaluable…use this book as your college lifeline.”

— Lynn O'Shaughnessy

Nationally Recognized College Expert

College Planning in Your Inbox

Join our information-packed monthly newsletter.

Some experts argue that focusing on individual actions to combat climate change takes the focus away from the collective action required to keep carbon levels from rising. Change will not be effected, say some others, unless individual actions raise the necessary awareness.

While a reader can see the connection between the sentences above, it’s not immediately clear that the second sentence is providing a counterargument to the first. In the example below, key “old information” is repeated in the second sentence to help readers quickly see the connection. This makes the sequence of ideas easier to follow.  

Sentence pair #2: Effective Transition

Some experts argue that focusing on individual actions to combat climate change takes the focus away from the collective action required to keep carbon levels from rising. Other experts argue that individual actions are key to raising the awareness necessary to effect change.

You can use this same technique to create clear transitions between paragraphs. Here’s an example:

Some experts argue that focusing on individual actions to combat climate change takes the focus away from the collective action required to keep carbon levels from rising. Other experts argue that individual actions are key to raising the awareness necessary to effect change. According to Annie Lowery, individual actions are important to making social change because when individuals take action, they can change values, which can lead to more people becoming invested in fighting climate change. She writes, “Researchers believe that these kinds of household-led trends can help avert climate catastrophe, even if government and corporate actions are far more important” (Lowery).

So, what’s an individual household supposed to do?

The repetition of the word “household” in the new paragraph helps readers see the connection between what has come before (a discussion of whether household actions matter) and what is about to come (a proposal for what types of actions households can take to combat climate change).

Sometimes, transitional words can help readers see how ideas are connected. But it’s not enough to just include a “therefore,” “moreover,” “also,” or “in addition.” You should choose these words carefully to show your readers what kind of connection you are making between your ideas.

To decide which transitional word to use, start by identifying the relationship between your ideas. For example, you might be

• making a comparison or showing a contrast Transitional words that compare and contrast include also, in the same way, similarly, in contrast, yet, on the one hand, on the other hand. But before you signal comparison, ask these questions: Do your readers need another example of the same thing? Is there a new nuance in this next point that distinguishes it from the previous example? For those relationships between ideas, you might try this type of transition: While x may appear the same, it actually raises a new question in a slightly different way. 
• expressing agreement or disagreement When you are making an argument, you need to signal to readers where you stand in relation to other scholars and critics. You may agree with another person’s claim, you may want to concede some part of the argument even if you don’t agree with everything, or you may disagree. Transitional words that signal agreement, concession, and disagreement include however, nevertheless, actually, still, despite, admittedly, still, on the contrary, nonetheless .
• showing cause and effect Transitional phrases that show cause and effect include therefore, hence, consequently, thus, so. Before you choose one of these words, make sure that what you are about to illustrate is really a causal link. Novice writers tend to add therefore and hence when they aren’t sure how to transition; you should reserve these words for when they accurately signal the progression of your ideas.
• explaining or elaborating Transitions can signal to readers that you are going to expand on a point that you have just made or explain something further. Transitional words that signal explanation or elaboration include in other words, for example, for instance, in particular, that is, to illustrate, moreover .
• drawing conclusions You can use transitions to signal to readers that you are moving from the body of your argument to your conclusions. Before you use transitional words to signal conclusions, consider whether you can write a stronger conclusion by creating a transition that shows the relationship between your ideas rather than by flagging the paragraph simply as a conclusion. Transitional words that signal a conclusion include in conclusion , as a result, ultimately, overall— but strong conclusions do not necessarily have to include those phrases.

If you’re not sure which transitional words to use—or whether to use one at all—see if you can explain the connection between your paragraphs or sentence either out loud or in the margins of your draft.

For example, if you write a paragraph in which you summarize physician Atul Gawande’s argument about the value of incremental care, and then you move on to a paragraph that challenges those ideas, you might write down something like this next to the first paragraph: “In this paragraph I summarize Gawande’s main claim.” Then, next to the second paragraph, you might write, “In this paragraph I present a challenge to Gawande’s main claim.” Now that you have identified the relationship between those two paragraphs, you can choose the most effective transition between them. Since the second paragraph in this example challenges the ideas in the first, you might begin with something like “but,” or “however,” to signal that shift for your readers.  

• picture_as_pdf Transitions

In order to continue enjoying our site, we ask that you confirm your identity as a human. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

How to Write a Cause and Effect Essay: Full Guide

Ever wondered how things are connected in our world? Think of the butterfly effect—where a butterfly's wings in Brazil can set off a tornado in Texas. It's a quirky idea, but it shows how events are intertwined. Writing a cause and effect essay is like unraveling these connections, connecting the dots to reveal how things influence each other and shape our experiences.

In this guide, experts from our paper writing service will explore the concept of causality and share practical tips for creating great cause and effect essays. These essays won't just provide information—they'll leave a lasting impression on your readers.

What Is a Cause and Effect Essay

A cause and effect essay is a form of writing that aims to explore and explain the relationships between different events, actions, or circumstances. The central idea is to investigate why certain things happen (causes) and what results from those occurrences (effects). It's like peeling back the layers to reveal the interconnectedness of events, understanding the domino effect in the narrative of life.

Here's a breakdown of the key components:

• Causes: These are the factors or events that initiate a particular situation. They are the reasons behind why something occurs. For instance, if you're exploring the cause of obesity, factors like unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical activity could be identified as causes.
• Effects: The effects are the outcomes or consequences that result from the identified causes. Following the obesity example, effects could include health issues, reduced quality of life, or increased healthcare costs.
• Connection: The heart of a cause and effect essay lies in demonstrating the link between causes and effects. It's not just about listing events but explaining how one event leads to another in a logical and coherent manner.

When crafting such an essay, you're essentially acting as a storyteller and investigator rolled into one. Your goal is to guide the reader through the web of interconnected events, providing insights into the 'why' and 'what happens next.'

How to Write a Cause and Effect Essay with Easy Steps

Understanding how to write a cause and effect essay is like putting together a puzzle. Here are ten simple steps to help you write an engaging essay that looks into how things are connected.

1. Select a Specific Topic

• Choose a cause and effect relationship that sparks your interest.
• Ensure your topic is focused and manageable for a thorough exploration.

2. Explore Causal Links

• Conduct thorough research to uncover hidden connections and supporting evidence.
• Look beyond the obvious to identify intricate relationships between causes and effects.

3. Craft a Clear Thesis Statement

• Develop a precise thesis that clearly articulates the main cause and the resulting effects.
• Your thesis serves as the roadmap for your essay, guiding readers through your analysis.

4. Organize Chronologically or by Significance

• Structure your essay in a logical order, either chronologically or by the significance of events.
• This organization enhances clarity and helps readers follow the cause-and-effect progression.

5. Utilize Transitional Phrases

• Employ transition words and phrases to ensure seamless flow between causes and effects.
• Clear transitions enhance readability and strengthen the coherence of your essay.

6. Support Arguments with Credible Evidence

• Back up your claims with relevant data, examples, and statistics.
• Strong evidence adds credibility to your analysis and reinforces the cause-and-effect relationships you present.

7. Illustrate Chain Reactions

• Show how a single cause can trigger a chain of effects, and vice versa.
• Illustrate the ripple effects to emphasize the complexity of the relationships.

8. Analyze Root Causes

• Move beyond surface-level explanations and explore the underlying factors contributing to the cause-and-effect scenario.
• Deep analysis adds depth and nuance to your essay.

9. Consider Alternative Causes

• Address potential counterarguments to showcase a comprehensive understanding.
• Acknowledging alternative causes strengthens your essay's overall credibility.

10. Conclude with Impact

• Summarize key points and emphasize the broader significance of your analysis.
• Leave your readers with a thought-provoking conclusion that ties together the cause-and-effect relationships explored in your essay.

Cause and Effect Essay Structure Types

When setting up your essay, you can choose from different structures to make it organized. Let's look at two common types of cause and effect essay structures:

• Block Structure:

The block structure is a clear and organized way to present causes and effects in your essay. Here, you dedicate one section to discussing all the causes, covering multiple causes within each category. After that, you have another section to explore all the effects. This separation makes your ideas easy to understand.

Using the block structure allows you to dive deep into each category, thoroughly looking at causes and effects separately. It's handy when you want to give a detailed analysis and show the importance of each part of the causal relationship. This way, readers can fully grasp each element before moving on.

• Chain Structure:

On the other hand, the chain structure focuses on how events are connected and create ripple effects. It highlights how one cause leads to a specific effect, and that effect becomes the cause of more effects in an ongoing chain. This method is potent for illustrating the complexity of causal relationships.

The chain structure works well when you want to emphasize the sequence of events or deal with intricate cause-and-effect scenarios. It allows you to show how actions trigger a series of reactions, displaying the domino effect that leads to a specific outcome.

Regardless of the structural style you choose, if you require assistance with your academic paper, reach out to us with your ' write my paper for me ' request. Our experienced team is ready to tailor your paper to your specific requirements and ensure its excellence.

Cause and Effect Essay Outline

Creating an effective cause and effect essay begins with a well-structured outline. This roadmap helps you organize your thoughts, maintain a logical flow, and ensure that your essay effectively conveys the causal relationships between events. Below, we'll outline the key components of the essay along with examples:

I. Introduction

• Hook: Start with an engaging statement or fact. Example: 'Did you know that stress can significantly impact your overall health?'
• Background Information: Provide context for your topic. Example: 'In today's fast-paced world, stress has become an increasingly prevalent issue.'
• Thesis Statement: Clearly state the main cause and its corresponding effects. Example: 'This essay will explore the causes of stress and their profound negative effects on physical and mental health.'

II. Body Paragraphs

• Topic Sentence: Introduce the first cause you'll discuss. Example: 'One major cause of stress is heavy workload.'
• Supporting Details: Provide evidence and examples to support the cause. Example: 'For instance, individuals juggling multiple job responsibilities and tight deadlines often experience heightened stress levels.'
• Transition: Link to the next cause or move on to the effects.
• Topic Sentence: Introduce the first effect. Example: 'The effects of chronic stress on physical health can be devastating.'
• Supporting Details: Present data or examples illustrating the impact. Example: 'Studies have shown that prolonged stress can lead to cardiovascular problems, including hypertension and heart disease.'
• Transition: Connect to the next effect or cause.

C. Causes (Continued)

• Topic Sentence: Introduce the next cause in a new cause and effect paragraph. Example: 'Another significant cause of stress is financial strain.'
• Supporting Details: Explain how this cause manifests and its implications. Example: 'Financial instability often results in anxiety, as individuals worry about bills, debts, and their financial future.'
• Transition: Prepare to discuss the corresponding effects.

D. Effects (Continued)

• Topic Sentence: Discuss the effects related to financial strain. Example: 'The psychological effects of financial stress can be profound.'
• Supporting Details: Offer real-life examples or psychological insights. Example: 'Depression and anxiety are common consequences of constant financial worries, affecting both mental well-being and daily life.'

III. Conclusion

• Restate Thesis: Summarize the main cause and effects. Example: 'In summary, the heavy workload and financial strain can lead to stress, impacting both physical and mental health.'
• Closing Thoughts: Reflect on the broader significance of your analysis. Example: 'Understanding these causal relationships emphasizes the importance of stress management and financial planning in maintaining a balanced and healthy life.'

Cause and Effect Essay Examples

To help you grasp cause and effect essay writing with clarity, we have prepared two distinct essay examples that will guide you through the intricacies of both block and chain structures. Additionally, should you ever find yourself requiring assistance with academic writing or descriptive essays examples , simply send us your ' write my research paper ' request. Our expert writers are here to provide the support you need!

Why Wait? Get Your Stellar Cause and Effect Essay Now!

Don't procrastinate – order yours today and let our wordsmiths create an essay that's more captivating than a Netflix series cliffhanger!

Cause and Effect Essay Topics

Choosing a good topic starts with recognizing cause and effect key words. Here are 10 interesting topics that let you dig into fascinating connections and their important consequences:

• The Relationship Between Lack of Exercise and Mental Health in Older Adults
• Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Workplace Productivity
• The Impact of Cyberbullying on Adolescents' Emotional Well-being
• Influence of Social Media Advertising on Consumer Purchasing Decisions
• Consequences of Oil Spills on Coastal Ecosystems
• How Noise Pollution Affects Concentration and Academic Performance in Schools
• The Connection Between Fast-Food Marketing and Childhood Obesity
• Effects of Urbanization on Water Quality in Local Rivers
• The Relationship Between Indoor Plants and Air Quality in Homes
• Impact of Plastic Pollution on Wildlife in Urban Environments
• The Effect of Meditation on Stress Reduction in College Students
• How Increased Screen Time Affects Teenagers' Attention Span
• The Impact of Single-Use Plastics on Marine Microorganisms
• The Relationship Between Smartphone Use and Sleep Quality in Adults
• Effects of High-Fructose Corn Syrup on Metabolic Health
• The Consequences of Deforestation on Local Biodiversity
• Influence of Social Media Comparison on Body Dissatisfaction in Adolescents
• The Connection Between Air Pollution and Respiratory Health in Urban Areas
• Effects of Excessive Gaming on Academic Performance in High School Students
• The Impact of Fast Food Consumption on Childhood Obesity Rates

Final Words

Knowing what a cause and effect essay is and how to write it helps you uncover connections in different topics. With this guide, you can share your ideas in a clear and impactful way.

Meanwhile, if you're in need of a reaction paper example , rest assured we have you covered as well. So, seize this opportunity, put your thoughts on paper logically, and witness your essays leaving a lasting and influential mark.

Let's Turn Those 'What Ifs' into 'A+ Ifs'!

Don't procrastinate when you can cause an effect on your grades right now!

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

How To Write An Essay

Transition Words For Essays

Transition Words for Essays - An Ultimate List

12 min read

Published on: Jan 1, 2021

Last updated on: Jul 23, 2024

People also read

How To Write An Essay - "The Secret To Craft an A+ Essay"

Learn How to Title an Essay Like a Professional Writer

How to Write an Essay Outline Like a Pro

Essay Format - An Easy Guide & Examples

What is a Thesis Statement, and How is it Written? - Know Here

Arguable and Strong Thesis Statement Examples for Your Essay

200+ Creative Hook Examples: Ready, Set, Hook

A Guide to Writing a 1000 Word Essay for School or College

All You Need to Know About a 500-word Essay

Different Types of Essay: Definition With Best Examples

Writing an Essay Introduction - Step by Step Guide

Jumpstart Your Writing with These Proven Strategies on How to Start an Essay

Learn How to Write a Topic Sentence that Stands Out

A Guide to Crafting an Impactful Conclusion for Your Essay

Amazing Essay Topics & Ideas for Your Next Project (2024)

Explore the Different Types of Sentences with Examples

Share this article

Are you tired of reading essays that feel disjointed and difficult to follow? Do you find yourself struggling to connect your ideas smoothly and effectively? 

If so, then you're in luck, because today we're going to take a closer look at the magic of transition words.

In this blog, we'll cover different types of transition words and their precise usage, and how they can elevate your writing. By the end, you'll have the tools to captivate your readers and leave a lasting impression. 

Let's dive in!

On This Page On This Page -->

What are Transition Words?

Transition words are linking words used to connect sentences and ideas in the content. They help the audience move from one idea to another, building a coherent relationship within the document.

When  writing an essay , it is essential to make sure that the information provided is readable and understandable by the readers. For this purpose, explicit language, transition words, and phrases are used.

Moreover, these words set a base for the idea that is going to be discussed next.

Transition words can either make or break the entire essay. It is mandatory to keep in view that not every sentence in your essay needs a transitional phrase. 

Types of Transitions

Generally, there are three types of transitions that are used while drafting a piece of document. Depending on the length, complexity, and kind of text, transitions can take the following form:

• Transition Between Sections - When your document is lengthy, transition paragraphs are used to summarize a particular section for the readers. In addition to this, it also links the information that is to be shared next.

For example:

"In the following section..." "Moving on to..." "Now, let's explore..." "Turning our attention to..." "To delve deeper, we will now examine..."

• Transition Between Paragraphs -  The transition between paragraphs is when you logically connect the two paragraphs. This connection summarizes the paragraph’s primary concern and links it to the next idea of the other paragraph.

"Furthermore..." "On the other hand..." "Similarly..." "In contrast..." "Moreover..." "Additionally..." "In addition to..." "Conversely..." "Likewise..." "In a similar vein...

• Transition Within Paragraphs -  They act as cues for the readers to prepare them for what is coming next. They are usually single words or small phrases.

"For instance..." "In particular..." "To illustrate..." "Additionally..." "Moreover..." "Furthermore..." "On the contrary..." "However..." "In contrast..." "In other words..."

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!

Types of Transition Words

Here's a table showcasing different types of transition words and their corresponding functions:

Transition Words For Different Types of Essays

Transitional words depend on the relationship you want to convey to the audience about the ideas and paragraphs. Below is a list of words and phrases that can be used to link different sentences, paragraphs, and sections.

Identify which transition expression you want to share for your logical relationship.

Transition Words for Argumentative Essay

• In the same way
• Equally important
• Furthermore
• Comparatively
• Additionally
• In addition
• Not only...but also

Transition Words for Compare and Contrast Essay

• In contrast
• Different from
• On the contrary
• In spite of

Transition Words for Informative Essay

• Provided that
• With this in mind
• For the purpose of
• In the hope that
• In order to
• With this intention

Transition Words for College Essays

• In other words
• By all means
• To demonstrate
• As in illustration
• To put it another way

Transition Words for Cause and Effect Essay

• As a result
• For this reason
• Because the
• Under those circumstances
• Accordingly
• Consequently

Transition Words for Expository Essay 

• Not long after that
• Specifically
• To begin with
• Without doubt
• Undoubtedly
• Due to circumstances
• In similar fashion

Transition Words for Different Parts of Essay

Here's a table listing transition words for different parts of an essay:

How Transitions work

Transitions work by creating a bridge between ideas, sentences, paragraphs, or sections in your essay. They help to establish logical connections and guide the reader through the flow of your writing. 

Here's how transitions work:

• Coherence : Transitions create smooth connections between ideas, ensuring a coherent flow in your writing.
• Signal Relationships: Transitions clarify how ideas are related, such as cause and effect, comparison, contrast, or sequence.
• Guide the Reader: It acts as signpost, guiding readers through your essay and indicating the direction of your thoughts.
• Enhance Clarity: Transitions improve clarity by organizing ideas and helping readers understand logical progression.
• Improve Flow: It ensures a seamless flow between sentences, paragraphs, and sections, preventing choppiness.
• Emphasize Key Points: Transitions can be used strategically to highlight important ideas and make them more impactful.

Let's consider an example:

In the above example, transitions like " one such source " connect the idea of solar power to renewable energy sources. " Similarly " then introduces the concept of wind power, creating a logical progression. These transitions help readers follow the flow of ideas and understand the relationships between different energy sources.

Tips to Use Transition Words in your Essay

Here are some tips to effectively use transition words in your essay:

• Understand the Purpose: Familiarize yourself with the different types and functions of transition words, phrases, or sentences. Recognize how they connect ideas, provide structure, and indicate relationships between different parts of your essay.
• Plan your Essay Structure: Before you start writing, outline the main sections, paragraphs, and points you want to cover. Consider where transition words can be used to improve the flow and coherence of your essay.
• Use Transition Words Appropriately: Ensure that the transition word you choose accurately reflects the relationship between ideas. Don't force a transition where it doesn't fit naturally.
• Vary Transition Words: Avoid repetitive or excessive use of the same transition word throughout your essay. Use a variety of transition words to maintain reader interest and enhance overall readability.
• Pay Attention to Placement: Place transition words at the beginning, middle, or end of sentences, depending on the desired effect. Consider the logical flow of your ideas and choose the appropriate placement for each transition word.
• Use Transitional Phrases: Instead of using single transition words, consider incorporating transitional phrases or clauses. These can provide more context and clarity, strengthening the connection between ideas.
• Revise and Edit: After completing your essay, review it for the effectiveness and smoothness of transitions. Ensure that they serve their purpose in guiding the reader and enhancing the overall coherence of your writing.
• Seek Feedback: Share your essay with others and ask for feedback, specifically on the use of transition words. Others' perspectives can help you identify any areas that need improvement or where transitions could be strengthened.

To sum it up! While mastering transition words may require time and practice, it is a skill well worth developing. These words are crucial for creating coherence and flow in your essays. Throughout this blog, we have explored various transition words and phrases that can greatly enhance your writing.

Remember, practice makes perfect, so don't hesitate to apply these newfound skills in your future essays. You can utilize an AI essay writer to enhance and refine your writing skills.

If you still need assistance or have further inquiries, our team at CollegeEssay.org is available to provide legit essay writing service . 

Contact us today, and let us be a part of your journey toward academic excellence!

Barbara P (Literature, Marketing)

Barbara is a highly educated and qualified author with a Ph.D. in public health from an Ivy League university. She has spent a significant amount of time working in the medical field, conducting a thorough study on a variety of health issues. Her work has been published in several major publications.

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That’s our Job!

Keep reading

Legal & Policies

• Privacy Policy
• Cookies Policy
• Terms of Use
• Refunds & Cancellations
• Our Writers
• Success Stories
• Our Guarantees
• Affiliate Program
• Referral Program
• AI Essay Writer

Disclaimer: All client orders are completed by our team of highly qualified human writers. The essays and papers provided by us are not to be used for submission but rather as learning models only.

Transition Words: Cause & Effect

Learn how to use  transition words in English to show  cause  and  effect.  In this free English lesson you will learn how to use  because, since, as, because of  and due to  to show a  cause  or  reason.   You will also learn how to use  so, therefore, thus, hence  and  as a result of to show an  effect  or  result. 

If you like this free English grammar lesson, then make sure to download it below in pdf format and sign up for our free newsletter. Oh, and don’t forget to  turn your LANGUAGE ON English Schools ! 

Free English Lesson PDF Download. Start your download now!

Transition Words to Show  Cause / Reason

Because & since.

Because  and since  are used to show a cause  or reason .

We went to the beach because it was sunny.    

We stayed home ** since it was raining.

( **Be careful:   Since can also be used to show time, for example:   I have lived in Miami since 2006.)

We sometimes use as  to show a cause or reason.   As  is used in formal writing more often than in speech.

        We went to the beach as it was sunny.

As it was raining, I stayed home and watched a movie.

Due to & Because of

Due to  and  because of  are followed by a noun clause or ‘the fact that’ .

We were late due to the traffic.   We were late due to the fact that there was a lot of traffic.

We were late because of the traffic.   We were late because of the fact that there was a lot of traffic.

How to Use Transition Words  &  Commas

If the transition word comes at the beginning of the sentence, we use a comma; otherwise, we do not.

Because it was sunny , we went to the beach.   →   We went to the beach because it was sunny .

Since it was raining , we stayed home.  →   We stayed home since it was raining .

As I was late , I didn’t eat breakfast.  →   I didn’t eat breakfast as I was late.

Due to the traffic , we were late.  →   We were late due to the traffic.

Because of the traffic , we were late.  →     We were late because of the traffic.

Transition Words to Show  Effect / Result

So & therefore.

So  and therefore  are used to show an effect  or result .

It was raining, so we stayed home .

I woke up late ; therefore , I didn’t eat breakfas t.

I have a headache . Therefore , I will stay home tonight .

Thus & Hence

We sometimes use thus  & hence  to show an effect  or reason .   Thus  and  hence  are used in formal writing more often than in speech.

It was sunny; hence , we went to the beach.

There was a lot of traffic; thus , we were late.

As a Result Of

As a result of  is a transitional phrase and can be followed by a noun phrase or an independent clause.

We were late as a result of the traffic.   (noun clause)

We were late as a result of driving through traffic.   (noun clause)

We were late; as a result , we missed the beginning of the movie. (independent clause)

Click here to subscribe to our newsletter! #TurnYourLanguageOn

Transition words ~ exercise and practice.

Transition Words and Phrases   Combine the two sentences using an appropriate transition word or phrase. Do not repeat transition words or phrases! Each one may only be used once!

1. We stayed inside. There was a tropical storm.

___________________________________________________________________________________

2. Tracy failed the exam. She didn’t study.

3. Dave had a car accident. He was sending a text.

4. Mike is a good volleyball player. He wins many games.

5. My flight was delayed. I didn’t make it home in time for the wedding.

Do you need to improve your English? See the locations of our English language schools in the United States.

Take our FREE Proficiency Test and

Discover your English Proficiency Level!

Proud partners with National Geographic Learning

Privacy Overview

Transition Words (List for Essays, Paragraphs, and Writing)

In grammar , transition words play a very important role. If used correctly, they can link your ideas, make your paragraphs more coherent, and enhance your writing.

But first – what exactly are transition words and how should you use them ?

What exactly are transition words?

Simply put, transition words are words that basically act as the powerful link that holds your sentences together. They are used to show the relationship between two (or more) phrases, sentences, and even paragraphs.

Transition words improve the flow of your writing, and make it more sensible and easier to read . Words like “and,” “additionally,” “because,” “therefore,” etc. are all transition words. Along with transition words, we also have transition phrases like “as well as,” “for example,” “after all,” etc.

Why are transition words used in a sentence?

1. they are link builders.

Using transition words helps you connect your ideas and thoughts clearly. It helps the reader understand how different ideas logically are related and not get confused. In addition, these words also prepare the readers for what they should expect next.

Let’s consider the following example:

• Shannon couldn’t sleep well last night. Therefore , she drank two cups of coffee before starting her day.

Now, using the transition word “therefore” helped you achieve two things here:

• It told the reader the cause-and-effect relationship between two things
• It described how these sentences are connected and are a part of one process.

From the above example, the reader will understand that Shannon requires two cups of coffee because she couldn’t sleep well last night. These are two different sentences, but they are glued together with the transition word. Remove the transition word and both of these sentences will lose coherency.

2. Transition words help you put your thoughts in a logical order

Organized thoughts are essential elements of clear and concise writing. Writers should ensure that all the points mentioned in a sentence have a logical flow and there should not be any abrupt pauses between them.

Transition words help in introducing sequence or order to your writing. Here’s how:

• First , we will go shopping. Then , we will go to a movie.

Here, we have used two transition words (“first” and “then”) at the beginning of two different sentences. They are used to denote a particular order in which two actions are to be performed.

3. Transition words make your work logical and easy to read

High-quality writing is always clear and easy to understand. It has a logical structure and helps the reader move from one thought to another effortlessly. The simpler the writing, the better the readability!

Transition words are the magic connectors that help you write in clear and plain English.

In both the above-mentioned examples, we have used the transition word at the beginning of the sentences. However, these words can also be used in the middle or at the end of a sense or phrase.

Consider the following sentence, for example:

• I love watching the TV show F.R.I.E.N.D.S because it makes me laugh.

Here, the transition word “because” helps in joining two clauses . It helps the reader understand two things clearly:

• Which TV show does the writer loves watching
• Why do they love watching that particular show

Different categories of transition words

Depending upon their usage and the types of transition a writer wishes to make, transition words are usually divided into multiple categories. There are transition words to show contrast, similarity, examples, and whatnot!

Generally, we have more than one transition word for a particular situation/ transition and so writers can pick the ones according to their liking.

Most of the time, these words mean the same things. However, sometimes they have slightly different meanings. Thus, it is important to understand the meaning and use-case of these words before making your final choice.

Here are some transition word examples according to different categories:

When it comes to displaying contrast “but” is the most common transition word. However, it is not the only word. There are several other transition words that you can use to display contrast in your sentences. Some of the common words include:

• On the contrary
• On the other hand
• Despite this
• Nevertheless

More on in contrast transition words .

The following transition words should be used for showing examples:

• For example
• For instance
• To illustrate
• Specifically

Cause and effect

These transition words are used for denoting the cause-and-effect relationship between two sentences. The common transition words you can use for this are as follows:

• Accordingly

Another common use of transition words is to show the similarity between sentences and phrases. Here are some commonly used transition words for denoting the similarity between two sentences:

• In the same way

For showing different periods, the following transition words should be used:

• Immediately
• Subsequently

These transition words also define sequence or time. Here are some common sequence-based transition words that writers can include in their work:

These transition words are used to connect things based on their location or where they are placed to each other. Here are some of them:

• Adjacent to

As the name suggests, emphasis transition words help you in stressing an important point and accentuate your argument. Here are some common emphasis transition words:

These transition words offer huge help when you are drafting the conclusion of your work . Whether you are working on a school essay, summing up an idea, or working on your blog, conclusion transition words are an integral part of all kinds of writing.

Here are some common conclusion transition words that writers can use to simplify their writing:

• In conclusion
• To sum it up
• On the whole

More on conclusion transition words .

Do transition words actually make a difference?

The main purpose of transition words is to make clunky, confusing, and disjointed sentences smooth , logical, and coherent. These words must be used to improve the flow of sentences and make your paper more engaging.

When trying to write in plain English, using appropriate transition words wherever possible can make a significant positive impact.

Writers must avoid making abrupt pauses or jumping from one sentence to another illogically. Instead, it is recommended to use transition words to establish an organizational flow in your work.

But the question is – do transition words actually work?

Let’s consider the following sentences – with and without the transition word – and see the difference:

• Jess is going back home for three months. He needs two big bags to carry all his belongings.

While there is nothing wrong with these two sentences, they lack a logical flow. Here’s how using a transition word can improve it.

• Jess is going back home for three months therefore he needs two big bags to carry all his belongings.
• Robin decided to stop studying. She failed high school .

Again, while both of these sentences are grammatically correct, they neither sound good nor logical, There’s an abrupt pause between them. Let’s see how they’ll sound after adding a transition word.

• Robin decided to stop studying. Consequently , she failed high school.
• I could go home. I could stay at the office and finish my work.

Now, these two sentences don’t sound coherent at all. There is something off about them, they lack flow, and they don’t make any logical sense, right? However, once we add a simple transition word between them, they will become so much better. Here’s how:

• I could go home, or I could stay at the office and finish my work.

By adding “or” (a contrast transition word), we linked the sentences. No need to rely on two awkward sentences that are better off as one.

How to use transition words correctly

In order to make a positive difference in your writing, the transition words must be used in a grammatically correct way.

When including transition words in their sentences, writers must remember the following important points:

1. The correct placement: When writing an essay, a blog, or an academic paper, the placement of the transition words plays a crucial role. Writers must plan where they want to place the transition words beforehand and then proceed with writing the sentences.

Generally, transition words can be placed –

• At the beginning of the sentences
• At the end of the sentences
• In the middle of a sentence

2. Use a comma : When using a transition word in the middle of the sentence, it is important to always use a comma (,) before it. Doing so will separate the transition word from the rest of the sentence and give more clarity to your writing.

3. Consider the relationship between two sentences: It is another important tip that every writer must use while including transition words in their writing. Two sentences can have different kinds of relationships. They can be in agreement or disagreement with each other, there can be a cause-and-effect relationship, they can be in chronological order, etc.

Thus, it is crucial to have a clear idea about their relationship before deciding on a transition word.

Key takeaways

In English, using transition words can do wonders for your writing. It can make it more appealing, logical, and clear for the readers. Today, we have learned a lot about transition words and how writers should use them in their work.

Here is a quick summary of everything that we have learned in this article:

• Transition words are words that are used when a writer is transitioning from one point to another.
• They are commonly used as “linking words” that join two or more sentences, phrases, and paragraphs.
• Some common and widely used transition words in English include “also,” “or,” “therefore,” and “thus.”
• There are various categories of transition words and writers can use them depending on the relationship between sentences. Common categories of transition words include – cause-and-effect transition, similarity transition, emphasis transition, contrast transition, and more.

The 10 most commonly used transitional words include the following:

• Furthermore
• Consequently

When using transition words, it is important to strike the correct balance. Overusing transition words can make your work hard to read and reduce its quality.

While you can use multiple transition words in a paragraph, it is recommended to use just one transition word in a sentence.

With SEO becoming more and more important, using the right amount of transition words in your content has become all the more important. Following the best SEO practices and including the ideal amount of transition words in blogs and articles can help in increasing their Google ranking.

Ideally, a writer must ensure that at least 30% of their sentences include transition words. This will go a long way in improving the readability of their content and making it more engaging and simple.

There are several ways to write effective transition sentences . Here are some writing tips that can help writers write effective transition sentences:

• Generally, it is advisable to use transition words at the beginning of your sentences. It helps you introduce the paragraph topic and logically connect the new sentence with the previous one.
• As much as possible, it is advisable to avoid using the transition word “this.” It is because it can make your sentences confusing as it is not always clear what or who “this” refers to. Moreover, many people use pronouns like “this” or “that” as filler words.

The five most common types of transitions include the following:

• Comparison – For example, “similarly”, “likewise,” “in the same way,” etc.
• Contrast – For example, “on the contrary,” “or,” “otherwise,” “however,” etc.
• Emphasis – For example, “in fact,” “above all,” etc.
• Sequence – For example, “first,” “next,” “eventually,” etc.
• Consequence – For example, “accordingly,” “as a result,” “consequently,” etc.
• Wikipedia – Transition
• Yoast SEO – Transition words: why and how to use them
• Your Dictionary – How do I include transition words in my essay
• Writer’s Room – Transition words and phrases

Inside this article

Fact checked: Content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. Learn more.

About the author

Dalia Y.: Dalia is an English Major and linguistics expert with an additional degree in Psychology. Dalia has featured articles on Forbes, Inc, Fast Company, Grammarly, and many more. She covers English, ESL, and all things grammar on GrammarBrain.

Core lessons

• Abstract Noun
• Accusative Case
• Active Sentence
• Alliteration
• Adjective Clause
• Adjective Phrase
• Adverbial Clause
• Appositive Phrase
• Body Paragraph
• Compound Adjective
• Complex Sentence
• Compound Words
• Compound Predicate
• Common Noun
• Comparative Adjective
• Comparative and Superlative
• Compound Noun
• Compound Subject
• Compound Sentence
• Copular Verb
• Collective Noun
• Colloquialism
• Conciseness
• Conditional
• Concrete Noun
• Conjunction
• Conjugation
• Conditional Sentence
• Comma Splice
• Correlative Conjunction
• Coordinating Conjunction
• Coordinate Adjective
• Cumulative Adjective
• Dative Case
• Declarative Statement
• Direct Object Pronoun
• Direct Object
• Dangling Modifier
• Demonstrative Pronoun
• Demonstrative Adjective
• Direct Characterization
• Definite Article
• Doublespeak
• Equivocation Fallacy
• Future Perfect Progressive
• Future Simple
• Future Perfect Continuous
• Future Perfect
• First Conditional
• Gerund Phrase
• Genitive Case
• Helping Verb
• Irregular Adjective
• Irregular Verb
• Imperative Sentence
• Indefinite Article
• Intransitive Verb
• Introductory Phrase
• Indefinite Pronoun
• Indirect Characterization
• Interrogative Sentence
• Intensive Pronoun
• Inanimate Object
• Indefinite Tense
• Infinitive Phrase
• Interjection
• Intensifier
• Indicative Mood
• Juxtaposition
• Linking Verb
• Misplaced Modifier
• Nominative Case
• Noun Adjective
• Object Pronoun
• Object Complement
• Order of Adjectives
• Parallelism
• Prepositional Phrase
• Past Simple Tense
• Past Continuous Tense
• Past Perfect Tense
• Past Progressive Tense
• Present Simple Tense
• Present Perfect Tense
• Personal Pronoun
• Personification
• Persuasive Writing
• Parallel Structure
• Phrasal Verb
• Predicate Adjective
• Predicate Nominative
• Phonetic Language
• Plural Noun
• Punctuation
• Punctuation Marks
• Preposition
• Preposition of Place
• Parts of Speech
• Possessive Adjective
• Possessive Determiner
• Possessive Case
• Possessive Noun
• Proper Adjective
• Proper Noun
• Present Participle
• Quotation Marks
• Relative Pronoun
• Reflexive Pronoun
• Reciprocal Pronoun
• Subordinating Conjunction
• Simple Future Tense
• Stative Verb
• Subjunctive
• Subject Complement
• Subject of a Sentence
• Sentence Variety
• Second Conditional
• Superlative Adjective
• Slash Symbol
• Topic Sentence
• Types of Nouns
• Types of Sentences
• Uncountable Noun
• Vowels and Consonants

Popular lessons

Stay awhile. Your weekly dose of grammar and English fun.

The world's best online resource for learning English. Understand words, phrases, slang terms, and all other variations of the English language.

• Abbreviations
• Editorial Policy

Damascus, Syria, c 1890-1900. Courtesy the Library of Congress

The paradoxes of Mikha’il Mishaqa

He was a catholic, then a rationalist, then a protestant. most of all, he exemplified the rise of arab-ottoman modernity.

by Peter Hill   + BIO

The 19th-century Middle East presents a paradox. On the one hand, this was a time when the idea of a modern, secular society became possible. On the other, it saw the rise of newly divisive religious identities that stood opposed to that idea. Across the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire, intellectuals were creating a modern public sphere: a vibrant periodical press, a series of cultural associations and new-style schools. Adherents of different religions – Muslims, Christians, Jews – rubbed shoulders in these institutions, debating society, science and culture. A few – like the ‘materialist’ Shibli Shumayyil – began to recommend modern science as an alternative to religion. The Ottoman state, meanwhile, proclaimed the formal equality of its subjects of different religions, in 1856. Many intellectuals took it at its word, appealing to their fellows to set aside religious differences in the name of a ‘homeland’ or ‘nation’ for people of all faiths .

At the same time, these Arab provinces – notably Syria and Lebanon – were racked with major conflicts between religious communities. In Lebanon, the 1840s and ’50s saw bitter fighting between armed groups from the Druze Abrahamic and Maronite Christian communities. Tensions rose across Syria, fuelled by the intervention of European states and fears of their growing power within the Ottoman lands. In 1860, these pressures came to a head: in the provincial capital of Damascus itself, a crowd of armed Muslims massacred several thousand Christians. Meanwhile, religious leaders and revivalists were seeking to create more homogeneous religious communities, clearly distinct from one another. Muslim activists of the early Salafi movement, like Rashid Rida, advocated a return to the pure example of the Prophet Muhammad’s time. Catholic clerics like Patriarch Maximus Mazlum aimed to mark off their communities unambiguously from other Christian groups as well as Muslims. These projects were, in their way, as modern as those of secularity or scientific rationalism. They set out to eradicate an older set of religious practices – like the common worship of saints and shrines, or shared processions and holy days – that had at times blurred the boundaries between faiths.

The 19th century in the Arab-Ottoman world has thus left a contradictory legacy. It saw the emergence of two kinds of project that would go on to divide the Middle East, until today: ones aiming at a secular society, science and rationalism on the one hand, and ones insisting on religious identity and the separateness of religious communities on the other. How did these tendencies – so contradictory on the surface – come into being in the same moment, side by side?

Mikha’il Mishaqa in Damascus, Syria in 1859. Courtesy Wikipedia

One way of answering this question is through a microhistory: by looking at the story of one individual who played a part in the emergence of both kinds of project. Such a person was Mikha’il Mishaqa, a man who helped to shape both scientific rationalism and religious revival, as he followed his own eccentric path through the Arab 19th century. The story of his unusual journey through doubt to faith illuminates a shift taking place in the place of religion in Arab-Ottoman society: one that helps us see how the roots of rational secularism and of divisive religious identity were intertwined.

M ishaqa arrived in the Egyptian port of Damietta in 1817, aged 17. In the bustling city, the main hub for trade between Syria and Egypt, he found a world very different from the Lebanese mountain town, Dayr al-Qamar, where he had grown up. Along the Nile frontage, barges unloaded coffee, rice or linens directly into the waterfront entrances of houses and caravanserais. Passing through the port came peasants from Palestine and imams from Istanbul; Jews from Rhodes, and Egyptian Coptic Christians on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. At the heart of the city’s trade was the small but wealthy community of Christian merchants from Syria: the young Mikha’il took his place among them, lodging with his uncle and elder brother who were already established in Damietta, and set out to learn the business and make money.

But there was a fly in the ointment. Each spring, the plague appeared in town. At its height, up to 100 funeral processions could be seen leaving the city. And the disease regularly continued infecting and killing Damietta’s inhabitants for several months, into June or July. It presented a problem for everyone: but there was no consensus on how to deal with it. Many, both Muslims and Christians, resorted to prayer; some to magical means, like drawing squares or diagrams on the outside of rooms and houses as protection. Others (or the same people) looked to medical means – but doctors disagreed on the plague’s true causes and treatment. Some thought it spread by touch, others by breathing foul air; some thought tobacco smoke or laudanum useful protections, others dismissed these remedies. Damietta’s wealthy Christians sought to preserve themselves by a form of ‘lockdown’, shutting themselves in their houses or apartments for several months, and washing all goods that entered in water or vinegar.

These different reactions could cause disputes: adopting elaborate medical precautions could seem to deny God’s power, while relying on magic or prayer alone could seem dangerously careless. In the mixed society of the busy Egyptian port, different belief-systems rubbed up against each other as all confronted the shared challenge of plague. Soon after Mikha’il Mishaqa arrived in Damietta, his elder brother Andrawus caught the plague, but recovered. Above the door of his room, though, Mikha’il found papers bearing a religious slogan, placed there by the local Catholic priest. These, he was informed, were supposed to ‘stop the plague entering the place’: but, as Mikha’il remarked, they had clearly failed, because Andrawus had caught the plague anyway. ‘Don’t be of little religion and sow doubts,’ he was told. Yet the doubt persisted: these contradictions in dealing with the plague were one factor leading Mishaqa to doubt religion as such.

‘I came to reckon everything I read and heard in the books of the sects as falsehoods and delusions of utter futility’

The other major factor also had its roots in the unusually varied social mix of Damietta. For more than a decade, the richest Christian merchant of the city, Basili Fakhr – in touch with Greek clerics and sailors, and with Western European travellers and scholars – had been sponsoring the translation into Arabic of works of the European Enlightenment. This was the first time that post-Newtonian science, or the sceptical thought of French deists, was available in Arabic. And Mishaqa had already read some of these books at his home in Mount Lebanon, thanks to an uncle who had brought them from Damietta: now he read more. Enlightenment science offered him a system of ‘natural laws’ to explain and predict the phenomena of nature – like the movements of the planets and stars – with mathematical precision. By contrast, the ‘laws’ laid down by religion came to seem doubtful and irrational. The seal was set on Mishaqa’s rejection of religion when he read another of Fakhr’s Arabic translations. This was the Ruins of Empire by the French philosophe Constantin-François de Volney, who had himself travelled through Egypt and Syria in the 1780s.

Volney argued that human affairs – like the natural world – were governed by ‘natural laws, regular in their course, consistent in their effects’. Religions, however, were mystifications of these laws, derived from misunderstandings of the cosmos, and perpetuated by priestly elites who sought to maintain their own power. As Mishaqa would later put it: ‘I [came] to think that all religions were lies, and that the religious laws had been created by the wise, as a bridle for the ignorant.’ Like Volney, Mishaqa did not reject the notion of a divine being, who had created the wonders of nature, but resolved to act ‘according to the guidance of the natural light’ that God had ‘planted within us’. Though remaining outwardly a Catholic, so as not to cause scandal to his family and coreligionists, he ‘came to reckon everything I read and heard in the books of the sects as falsehoods and delusions of utter futility’, unacceptable to ‘sound reason’.

While Mishaqa – and, around him, a small circle of young Syrian Catholic men, like his brother Andrawus – was drawn to a deist position based on ‘natural law’ and reason, others in Damietta set out to counter them. The learned Catholic priest Saba Katib wrote a set of essays aimed to refute the ‘heresies’ of materialists both ancient (like Democritus and Epicurus) and modern (like Voltaire and Hobbes). Against them, he made the well-known argument from design: the wondrous universe revealed by science must surely have a divine Creator. And, significantly, Katib adopted a style of argument that was then unusual in Christian apologetics: since his adversaries ‘do not believe in any Scripture, nor in the sending of a Prophet,’ he wrote, ‘I have made the basic issue in the controversy the proof of reason alone.’ Like his deist or atheist adversaries, that is, Katib adopted ‘reason’ – not Biblical texts or ecclesiastical traditions – as his criterion.

Map of the Emirate of Mount Lebanon, 1752. Courtesy Wikipedia

M ishaqa returned to Mount Lebanon in 1820 – fed up of the plague and lockdowns that ‘imprisoned [me] in [my] house for around five months’ of each year. Building on his family’s role as merchants and bankers to the emir of Mount Lebanon Bashir al-Shihabi, Mishaqa soon found himself near the centres of local political power. Still in his 20s, he was appointed chancellor to the emirs of Hasbaya, a town in the Anti-Lebanon mountains, and granted the rents from extensive lands. He continued his self-education, studying medicine after a brief illness, and writing an innovative treatise on Arab music. He maintained his scepticism about religion: he records in his memoirs several incidents where he poked fun at the pretensions of clerics, Christian and Muslim. This, too, was his attitude when he first encountered, in 1823, a new kind of religious figure: Jonas King, one of the American Protestant missionaries who had recently arrived in Syria. Hearing the ‘handsome’ young New Englander dispute with Catholics in Dayr al-Qamar, Mishaqa ‘laughed secretly at both sides’.

The Evangelical missionaries brought to Ottoman Syria a heavy dose of Western condescension: they regarded its inhabitants as generally ‘uncivilised’ and ‘ignorant’, in need of their own brand of religious enlightenment. But they also brought an unusual interest in the individual beliefs of people they encountered. As they proceeded around the eastern Mediterranean, they reported meeting – in addition to believing Muslims, Jews and local Christians – what they described as ‘infidels’, individuals apparently unconvinced of any of the faiths on offer. They included a Maltese architect, who cited Volney as authority for his belief that ‘the Bible is an imposture’; the deist Dr Marpurgo, a leading Jewish physician of Alexandria; and the Armenian monk Jacob Gregory Wortabet, whom they succeeded in weaning away from his ‘infidel and deistical opinions’ and converting to Protestantism. As the American missionaries embedded themselves in the towns of Syria from the 1830s to the 1850s, they found similar groups, often of young Christian men, dissatisfied with their local churches and rapidly becoming ‘entirely sceptical on the subject of religion’.

To convince these groups of the merits of religion and of Protestant Christianity, the Protestant missionaries drew on rationalistic themes in their own heritage. As the American Pliny Fisk put it in 1823, true Christianity – that is, Evangelical Protestantism – could be seen as a ‘golden medium’ between ‘the two extremes of superstition and infidelity’: between the beliefs of local Christians, Muslims and others, and deism or scepticism. To convince local Christians – particularly Catholics – they often took aim in their preaching and writing at what they saw as irrational aspects of their beliefs: the worship of saints and images, the transubstantiation of bread and wine into Christ’s flesh and blood. And to convince sceptical ‘infidels’, they stressed what they saw as the ‘evidences’ for the truth of Christianity. Much like the Catholic Saba Katib in the 1810s, they based their appeal to such people not on Scripture or tradition, but on ‘reason’.

‘Reason’ continued to be his watchword: yet he no longer believed in reason unaided and alone

It was in the 1840s that Mishaqa felt the force of this appeal. By now, he was living in Damascus, married and prospering as a moneylender, doctor and merchant. He had witnessed dramatic changes in Syria: its occupation by the army of the powerful governor of Egypt, Mehmed Ali Pasha, and the first stirrings of sectarian violence that followed this army’s withdrawal, in 1841. Already swayed by a range of social and intellectual factors to look again for religious truth, in 1842 or 1843 Mishaqa came across a book translated into Arabic by the Protestant missionaries in Malta, called Evidence of Prophecy . In this Evangelical bestseller, the Scottish Presbyterian minister Alexander Keith had set out to prove that the prophecies made in the Bible had in fact come true – thus proving that the text must be divinely inspired. To this end, he compared the Scripture with modern European travellers to the Holy Land, piling up ‘evidence’ of the annihilation of cities that God had said would be destroyed. He even cited the travel narrative of the deist Volney in support of his claims. And to drive home his point, he accompanied the book with engravings – and later, photographs – giving empirical proof of the ruins of Petra, Nimrod or Babylon.

Mishaqa, after some thought and hesitation, found Keith’s arguments convincing, thanks especially to his rationalistic style, so different to that of ‘the doctors of my Church’, with their talk of ‘matters which … sound reasons reject’. A few years later, after further hesitations, and after growing closer to the American Protestant missionaries in Beirut, to other Syrians who had themselves become Protestants, and to the British consul in Damascus, Mishaqa took the irrevocable step of public conversion. In November 1848, he announced his belief ‘in the Christian faith according to the Holy Scriptures’ and was soon embroiled in a bitter controversy with the local head of the religion he was leaving, Maximus Mazlum, patriarch of the Greek Catholic Church. In his arguments against Catholicism – which the Protestant missionaries printed for him in Beirut – Mishaqa denounced the irrational ‘superstitions’ and ‘priestly inventions’ of Catholic doctrine, in similar terms to those he had used of religion in general in his deist youth. ‘Reason’ continued to be his watchword: yet he no longer believed in reason unaided and alone. He now accepted divine revelation as a surer guide, pointing out that rational judgments are often changeable and uncertain.

Ruins of a Greek church in the Christian quarter of Damascus, Syria, 30 April 1862. Photo by Francis Bedford, courtesy the Royal Collection, London

This rational Christianity sustained Mishaqa for the remainder of his life, through further upheavals. In 1860, along with other Christians of Damascus, he was attacked by a Muslim crowd in a bloody episode of sectarian violence. He fled through the streets with his two young children: badly beaten, he was lucky to escape with his life. He was able, though, to re-establish himself in Damascus as a prosperous man of business and vice-consul for the United States, positions he passed on to his sons. He kept up a reputation for learning across a broad range, from mathematics to music, and wrote a shrewd and vivid memoir of his life and times, before his death in 1888.

M ishaqa had certainly contributed to creating a modern public sphere in Arabic, and to the cause of scientific rationality. He was an early member of scientific and cultural associations in Ottoman Syria, and wrote for their publications and the growing periodical press. His religious writings, addressed to a public of many faiths, pioneered the use of printed pamphlets in public controversy. And his rationalism could have a sharp edge, as when he denounced popular beliefs and customs, as well as religious practices, as ‘superstitions’.

Yet Mishaqa was also a religious activist. Alongside the American missionaries, he sought to create an Arab form of Evangelical Christianity. His anti-Catholic polemics did much to shape the small but influential Syrian Protestant community, presenting Evangelical doctrines in a form suitable to an Arabic-reading public: the missionaries would reprint them well into the 20th century. They entered a tradition of inter-religious controversy, being picked up by Muslim as well as Catholic apologists. As a result of this, digital copies of these 19th-century texts can now be found on websites devoted to propagating Islam: eg, Quran For All and the Comprehensive Muslim e-Library.

One theme runs through these apparently disparate aspects of Mishaqa’s work and legacy: his insistence on ‘reason’. For him, this was the standard by which any belief should be justified – whether a scientific theory that could be tested by experiment, or a faith in divine revelation that surpassed human understanding. And this had apparently contradictory consequences. Mishaqa could entertain the possibility of being without religion entirely – he had, after all, spent 25 years as a deist – and judge different beliefs from outside, by the light of reason. But then, having opted for a particular faith, he had to insist on its rational credentials, dissociating it sharply from irrational ‘superstition’ and drawing its boundaries more tightly.

The poles of secularism and religious revivalism continue to animate cultural discourse in the Arab world today

And Mishaqa was not alone, in 19th-century Syria, in adopting the post-Enlightenment view of religion as something to be justified by reason, or of the true faith as a ‘golden medium’ between ‘superstition’ and unbelief. Even the Catholic reformer Maximus Mazlum had written a defence of Church doctrine against a Muslim scholar of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, in which he appealed not to Scripture or tradition but to ‘rational, philosophical proofs’. In the decades following Mishaqa’s death in 1888, this way of arguing about religion became increasingly common in the growing Arabic public sphere. Christians, Muslims and scientific ‘materialists’ alike now debated the relationship between faith and reason: and all were coming to assume, like Mishaqa, that they had to place themselves somewhere on a spectrum between unthinking faith and godless reason.

But these same reformers were also emphasising the boundaries between religious communities and practices. Muslim and Christian reformists – the early Salafi movement, Protestant missionaries, and reforming Catholics like Mazlum – set about denouncing the ‘superstitions’ of the common people. Some of these practices blurred the lines between religious communities, as Muslims or Druze visited the shrine of a Christian saint, or vice versa. Others blended religion and magic, or, like popular Sufi gatherings, offended the hardening standards of public morality and elitist ‘good taste’. In order to present their faiths as consistent creeds that could be embraced by rational individuals, reformists of all stripes had to strip away these heterodox, vernacular, collective and often syncretic practices. Yet, as they did so, they unpicked the fabric of a shared religious culture: a hierarchical but multifaith order in which Muslims, Christians, Jews and others had found a place. In its stead, they helped to create the contradictory possibilities of modernity: on the one hand, the image of a secular society and public sphere, of coexistence and equality between faiths; on the other, projects of ‘rationalised’, identitarian revival, of exclusive and homogeneous religious communities.

The eccentric figure of Mikha’il Mishaqa reminds us that these contradictory possibilities came out of a shared transition: towards the justification of religious faith in terms of reason, and the stress on individual belief as opposed to collective practice. The two poles of secularism and religious revivalism continue to animate much cultural discourse in the Arab world today. Mishaqa’s story recalls that they are both aspects of the same, modern, reality: that they emerged together, locked into a quarrel that was also a dialogue.

Nature and landscape

Land loneliness

To survive, we are asked to forget that our lands and bodies are being violated, policed, ripped up, silenced, sacrificed

Psychiatry and psychotherapy

Decolonising psychology

At times complicit in racism and oppression, psychology has also been a fertile ground for radical and liberatory thought

Rami Gabriel

Politics and government

Governing for the planet

Nation-states are no longer fit for purpose to create a habitable future for humans and nature. Which political system is?

Jonathan S Blake & Nils Gilman

Anthropology

The Ju/’hoansi protocol

Hunter-gatherer societies are highly expert in group deliberation and decision-making which respects both difference and unity

Vivek V Venkataraman

Progress and modernity

In praise of magical thinking

Once we all had knowledge of how to heal ourselves using plants and animals. The future would be sweeter for renewing it

Anna Badkhen

History of ideas

Baffled by human diversity

Confused 17th-century Europeans argued that human groups were separately created, a precursor to racist thought today

Jacob Zellmer