‘Transition words’ are often described as the glue that holds sentences and paragraphs together. At the risk of catastrophically mixing metaphors, we would also like to describe them as the oil that helps ideas to flow naturally from one sentence to another.

Transition words come in all shapes and sizes. There are many of them, so many that they are often categorized as well as listed. Try a quick internet search for ‘transition words’ to see the range of possibilities, or see our list of Great Signposting Words for some examples.

Below, you will find three paragraphs taken from undergraduate social science essays. In each case, the first example has had the transition words removed. You will find the removed transition words listed below the paragraph. See whether you can identify where the transition words might go. The paragraph as originally written follows, with the transition words reinstated.

Although we have made minor changes for educational purposes, these four excerpts were written by Open University students, Mr Phil Ellis, Mr David Purcell, Ms Teresa Garrard and one student who asked to remain anonymous. We are most grateful for their kind permission to reprint these excerpts from their essays here.

Transition Words – download the four excerpts.