The linking words you need to know

As we have recently seen (Quick guide for short discursive essays and Writing short essays for PET) you must include linking words in order to give quality to your piece of writing.

Here are some of these words you need to use:

TO JOIN TWO WORDS OR PARTS OF SENTENCES:

- AND -> Sam phoned Liz and sent the email.

- BOTH ... AND -> Sam both phoned Liz and sent the email.
- AND ... TOO / AS WELL -> Sam phoned Liz and sent the email too. / Sam phoned Liz and sent the email as well.
- AS WELL AS -> Sam phoned Liz as well as sent the email.
- AND ALSO / AND ... ALSO -> Sam phoned Liz and also sent the email. / Sam phoned Liz and sent the email also.

TO GIVE EXAMPLES:

- FOR EXAMPLE -> There are many different political parties in the country. For example, the Conservatives represent half of the population. / The Conservatives, for example, represent half of the population. 
- SUCH AS / LIKE [less formal] -> British political parties, such as / like the Conservatives, get a lot of money.

TO ORGANISE IDEAS:

- FIRST (OF ALL) ... , SECONDLY ... , FINALLY ... -> The E.U. has promoted different unity programmes. First (of all), it has [...]. Secondly, many governments [...]. Finally, thanks to [...].
- IN CONCLUSION [+ a final point] -> In conclusion, the E.U. has invested [...].

TO ADD INFORMATION:

- TO ADD A POINT: AS WEL AS THIS / BESIDES THIS -> The E.U. has promoted different unity programmes. First (of all), it has [...]. Secondly, many governments [...]. As well as this / Besides this, money [...]. Finally, thanks to [...].
- TO ADD DETAIL OR SURPRISING INFORMATION: IN FACT / ACTUALLY -> Tom has lived in many countries. In fact / Actually, his favourite was Japan. / Tom has lived in many countries but, in fact / actually, he's never been to Japan.
- TO ADD PERSONAL IDEAS: IN MY VIEW / PERSONALLY -> The word 'crisis' sounds scary. In my view / Personally, a crisis is a chance to improve.

- TO ADD A CONTRASTING POINT:
   BUT -> I don't like pizza, but I had it for dinner.
   HOWEVER / NEVERTHELESS -> I don't like pizza. However / Nevertheless, I had it for dinner.

TO GIVE ALTERNATIVES:

- EITHER ... OR ... -> We could either order a pizza, or go to a restaurant. / Either we could order a pizza, or go to a restaurant.

TO REPLACE:

- INSTEAD OF -> Instead of ordering a pizza we went to a restaurant. / We ordered a pizza instead of going to a restaurant.
- INSTEAD -> We didn't go to a restaurant. We ordered a pizza instead.

TO GIVE EXCEPTIONS:
- EXCEPT / BUT -> She visited everyone except / but her mother.

TO EMPHASISE:
- EVEN -> I don't like public transport. I even hate it.
- EVEN ... THAN -> This book is even longer than the Bible.

Do not forget to pay special attention to the punctuation shown in the examples.

Dani.