Writing Lab

To signal relationships or shifts in meaning, a transition connects one paragraph, sentence, clause, or word with another. A transition also identifies what kind of connection exists, helping readers anticipate how the next paragraph or sentence will relate to the meaning of what they have just read.
Following are the groups of transitions, what they signal, and examples of each:

1. Chronological Transitions. . . Relationship in time:

presently	meanwhile	the next day	With that finished
thereupon	at length	second	then
immediately	soon afterward	when I returned	thereafter
afterward	after that	by that time	Following this
next	beforehand	first	later
soon	at that moment	at last	earlier
within an hour	shortly	from then on	finally

2. Spatial Transitions. . . Relationship in space:

a little farther on	at the edge of the clearing	above
in the next room	at the center of the circle	below
at that altitude	across the way	beyond this point
between those cities	about a foot to the left	just to the right

3. Comparison Transitions. . . What follows is similar to what precedes:

likewise	once again	similarly
in the same way	in like manner	at the same time

4. Contrast Transitions. . . A contradiction or contrast:

however	conversely	nevertheless	notwithstanding
whereas	still	even so	For all that
surely	unlike	on the other hand	In contrast
nonetheless	on the contrary	in spite of this	dissimilarly

5. Middle Paragraph Transitions. . . What follows is an illustration, a qualification, or an example:

for example	for instance	likewise
specifically	frequently	in particular
similarly	to illustrate	whenever
that is	in general	occasionally
generally	especially	usually

6. What follows is additional or supplementary:

furthermore	besides	Then, too
moreover	as if that were not enough	again
and	indeed	In addition
in fact	first, second, third. . .	also

7. What follows is quite expected, quite natural, or obviously true:

to be sure	it follows, then, that	surely
of course	for that matter	without a doubt
naturally	as a matter of fact	obviously then

8. Cause-Effect Transitions. . . What follows is a result of what precedes:

as a result	as a consequence	so
thus	consequently	another
therefore	then	hence
in other words	wherefore	at last
for this reason	and that is why	first
second	on the whole	accordingly
and so	finally	all in all

9. Counterargument Transitions. . . For concession:

of course	Certainly	to doubt that
doubtless	to be sure	granted

10. End of Paragraph or Conclusion Transitions. . . What follows is a repetition or intensification of that which precedes:

in other words	Indeed	as noted earlier
to repeat	in any case	besides
as we have seen	in fact	to sum up

11. Conclusion Transitions. . . What follows is a summary:

therefore	all in all	in short	In summary
in a word	on the whole	in conclusion	In brief
what we have, then	in sum	to summarize	finally

Adapted from: http://owl.ccd.edu/writ_resources/handouts/Trans_Exp.html