Discourse Marker / Connectives / Linking Expressions
A word or phrase used to suggest a boundary of some kind, to indicate a change of direction, focus, contrast, agreement or disagreement, etc., e.g. ‘To conclude…’ ‘Right, so what have you got to say for yourself…’
Effective writing, especially essay writing and writing that argues or persuades, needs to develop its points in a coherent way – a way that shows each point is built upon the last. This can be done through linking those ideas together via sentences that use connecting devices.
Here are some of the most common: ‘however… ‘although…’, ‘if so…’, ‘and so…’, ‘but…’, ‘clearly…’, ‘on the other hand…’, ‘therefore…’, ‘supposing that…’, ‘furthermore…’, ‘looked at another way…’, ‘in contrast…’, ‘on the contrary…’, etc.
