Conjunction/ discourse markers

Conjunction creates cohesion using linking words or discourse markers.

Various linking words and phrases express a relationship between the preceding and the succeeding sentences and paragraphs. The table below contains some common examples of such linkers.

Here are some more commonly used words and phrases that express particular relationships in discourse and make a text cohesive.

· Cause: to affect, bring about, be the cause of, contribute to, have an effect on, facilitate, be a factor in, influence, precipitate, produce, provide, be responsible for, give rise to, underlie.

· Result: aftermath, consequence, effect, after-effect, side effect, end result, follow-up impact, outcome, sequel; to arise from, can be ascribed/ attributed to, derive from, develop from, flow from, follow from, grow out of, result in, stem from; accordingly, as a consequence/ result, consequently, hence, in consequence, thereby.

· Similarity: analogous, comparable, corresponding, equivalent, identical, parallel; to draw an analogy/ comparison/ parallel between …, use an analogy to …, compare (un)favourably with…, correspond closely/ roughly, can be identified with…, there is no parallel for …, without parallel (= no one is better).

· Difference orcontrast: contrasting, converse(ly), dissimilar, divergent, diverse, reverse; be contrary to …, quite the contrary, despite all evidence to the contrary …, discrepancy, there’s a wide divergence of…, far from …, the reverse of …, quite the reverse is true.

· Sequence: (indicating thatyou arestarting alist) Three/ the following issues need to beraised, it contains two types of …, the reasons are as follows, … in thefollowing/ two/ several ways, the major points are …, there are a number of reasons/ factors/ aspects …, there are three types/ classes/ species;

- (introducing items in sequence) to begin/ start with, first, in the first/ second/ third place, the latter – former, the one – the other, turning from… to…, the next/ further point, in addition, the final point/ class/ aspect…, the last but not least.

· Time: after a while (a short time), afterwards, at the same time, in the meantime, immediately, presently, shortly, meanwhile, soon, until, while, after, before, at the same time, more recently, on rare occasions, until very recently, quite often.

· Clarification: evidently, in fact, in other words, too, of course, that is to say.

· Illustration: As an example … consider, a classical example of …, examples include …, can be illustrated/ exemplified with …/ as follows, to take an example/ case, a case in point.

· Expressing reality: in fact, actually, as a matter of fact, in practice, the fact of the matter is that.

· Emphasizing ideas: anyway, atall events,certainly, clearly, obviously, doubtless, in any case, indeed, needless to say, in particular, in all probability.

· Summary: in short, on the whole, to summarize, in some respects, taking everything into account, all things considered, reviewing ….

· Expressingpersonal opinion: in my opinion, in my view, to my mind, to my way of thinking, personally I believe, it strikes me that…, I feel very strongly that…, I am inclined to believe that…, as far as I am concerned….

6) Grammar cohesion/ parallelism

What is to guarantee that my orders are not changed?What is to guarantee thatthe attack is not annulled? What is to guarantee the attack is not postponed?

To steal, yes. To eat well, yes. To murder, yes. To fight. No.

One should avoid sudden changes in grammar as this often looks clumsy and it can make a written text difficult to understand.

E.g.: I can’t wait to lie on the sand. Swimming in the sea is great. To sunbathe is something I would love to do as well.

Correct:

I can’t wait to be lying on the sand, sunbathing and swimmingin the sea.

If we want to create a dramatic effect or make a strong contrast, we can repeat an unusual grammatical pattern. But we normally use this device in narrative and fiction because in less literary contexts it can seem inappropriate.

E.g.: Rarely had I seen such a ramshackle boat. And never had I actually been expected to get on board one.