June 2021: Word Choice: Sentence Connectors

Last month’s Capstone Multilingual Writing Tip was about combining ideas effectively using conjunctions in equal and unequal clauses. An additional stylistic choice is to use sentence connectors to start new independent clauses or sentences. These connectors can introduce, order, compare, contrast, or summarize ideas.

Remember that a clause is a grammatical unit consisting of at least a subject and a verb. Clauses can be dependent (i.e., unable to stand alone) or independent (i.e., able to stand alone, either as a complete sentence or in combination with other clauses).

Some examples of sentence connectors include

• additionally
• also
• as a result
• consequently
• for example
• for instance
• furthermore
• however
• in addition
• in contrast
• instead
• likewise
• moreover
• nevertheless
• on the other hand
• similarly
• then
• therefore
• thus

For more information, see our page on compound sentences, as well as semicolon and comma usage. Punctuation with sentence connectors is important; the post on punctuation patterns also gives explanations and examples to help you. Keep in mind that using a variety of sentence structures and clause combination types can make the writing more engaging for the reader.

Revision Tip: Look for places in your doctoral capstone document where you could use sentence connectors to start new independent clauses or sentences. Did you use the correct punctuation to combine the ideas? Revise as needed. Happy Writing!