Learn the Top 10 Words for Connecting Thoughts in English
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Whenever I’m ready, alright! Hi, everybody! Welcome back to Top Words, My name is Alisha.
And today we’re going to be talking about
ten words for connecting thoughts, these are
going to be ten words that you can use to
transition between ideas. Very useful in both
speech and in writing. Let’s go!
Also
Also, also is a word that you can use to add
information, “I went to the store this morning,
also I went and got coffee” that’s true.
However
However, however is used to contrast or to
contrast depending on your pronunciation to
differentiate, to show a difference between
two pieces of information, a good pattern
would be A however B. So for example, “I love
tonkatsu ramen however it is very high in
calories so I don’t eat it often” also true.
On the other hand
On the other hand, on the other hand is, I
feel used more commonly in speech than it
is in writing. Again, it’s used to present like
two sides to a story or two sides to some
information. So for example, “I’m thinking
about visiting Taiwan sometime this year but
on the other hand I’m also thinking about
visiting Thailand.”
Still
So it might be common to use still with the
word like “but” or word like “even though”, so
you’re saying even though there’s some other
factor, like, “I’m really really tired
this week or even though I have a lot of homework
to do I still want to go out with my friends”
or “I still want to see a movie this weekend.”
So there’s this other, there’s this thing that’s
maybe mix this other action difficult to do
or tough to do or whatever, but even though
there’s this you still have this over here.
So maybe the two are kind of used as a pair.
“I still want to go out later even though
I’m tired.”
Then
Then, yes a very useful word. We use then when
telling stories a lot. So for example, if I
could tell a story about my morning today
“when I got up I brush my teeth, and then
I cooked breakfast, then I did a little bit
of work, then I took a shower, then I did some
cooking”, bla bla bla. You’ll often hear
“and then” as well; and then I, and then we, and
then you, and so on. So then it is really really
useful for sequence, so a useful word, I think.
Besides
Besides, so it’s commonly used in a pattern
like besides that, meaning other than something
else. “I went out with my friends this weekend,
but besides that, I didn’t really do much.”
So another way to say that sentence is “I
went out with my friends this weekend, but
other than that, other than that activity, I
didn’t do very much.” Ok.
Meanwhile
Meanwhile, or you might hear the similar expression
“in the meantime.” it means while you’re doing
action A, at the same time maybe somewhere
else action B is happening. This is used while
telling stories a lot. So for example, “I
was working at my office all week last week,
meanwhile my co-workers across town were having
a party without me.” So these two things
are happening at the same time, but maybe
separate from one another. Meanwhile.
Likewise
Ok, likewise I don’t really use this word
personally myself at all, it’s often used after
an introduction similar to the “pleasure
is all mine” in a formal situation. So maybe
somebody says you know “Hey! it was really
great to see you last weekend. Thanks very
much for coming to my barbecue.” You can
say “yeah, likewise, it was really good to
see you and your family.” So likewise means
I have the same feeling or I have the same
idea. It’s kind of a friendly phrase but personally
I don’t really use that to transition between
thoughts, I would just use “and,” I suppose, but
that’s how I would use it.
Instead
So instead it’s used like instead of.
I want to A instead of B can be used to express
your plans or what you want to do “I want
to have Chinese food instead of Italian food
tonight.” So you’re presenting two alternatives
essentially. So instead of means “in place of”
or “as a substitute for”. So “I should have
drank a lot of water this morning but instead
I drank a lot of coffee.” That’s true .
“I wanted to have dinner with my friends this
weekend. Instead, I had dinner at home”
In addition
In addition, this is a really good word for
more formal situations. I like to use in addition
in writing, I don’t really use in addition
in speaking unless I’m trying to be very formal
for some reason. Similar to additionally as
well. So you make point A and point B, and then
when you want to make one more point that’s
related to point A and point B, you can say,
in addition, point C. So you’re like building
an argument, and in addition can be used to
kind of finish that argument off a little
bit. “Our new marketing plan worked really
well last month, we noticed increased sales
in product; in addition, we’ve gained a lot
of new customers.”
Something like that. So just, you’re quickly presenting
a series of ideas that are related to one
another, you can use in addition to finish
it off.
All right, so that’s the end of ten words
for connecting thoughts.
I hope you get to use a lot of these; try
to mix it up, it’s good to use a variety of
different words.
Thanks very much for watching this episode,
and we will see you again next time for more
fun stuff. Bye!
Whenever I’m ready.