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Connectors in English: How to Use Them | FluentU English
English connectors are little words and phrases that help you connect sentences, paragraphs and ideas. Used both in spoken and written English, they help make your English sound more logical and structured.
You can think of connectors as like the thread that holds a necklace’s beads (i.e. sentences, paragraphs and ideas) together.
In fact, you probably already use them without even realizing it!
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Note that English connectors are different from English conjunctions. While conjunctions link two or more words or clauses within a sentence, connectors establish that two separate sentences or ideas are related to each other.
To help you understand further, I’m going to walk you through some of the most common connectors in English and how they’re used. Some are used formally, while others are more casual. Some are even interchangeable
—that is, you can use them in place of similar words.
Perhaps you were late for school because your car ran out of gas. Or you want to buy chocolates because you want to surprise your mother on her birthday.
Explaining things will be much easier if you throw in these important English connectors.
Let’s take a look at them!
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Interactive subtitles: click any word to see detailed examples and explanations
Giving illustrations or examples helps us prove our point and convince other people to believe us. These words help people understand what you’re trying to say and can help them see why you believe what you believe.
While discussing an issue or idea, you may want to focus on a particular point or example. To make the listener understand the importance of that specific idea, you can use the following connectors.
-As the phrase suggests, it's used to highlight or emphasize a point that's more important than the others already stated
-Often used in writing
-May be used in everyday conversations as well
-Used to add to a point made previously
-Usually appear in writing
-Used at the beginning of new paragraphs to ensure they're connected to the overall topic
-Used as transitions
(that is, these words make new sentences and paragraphs flow with others)
Sometimes, we need to express different or contradicting ideas side-by-side. Doing this helps the listener or reader focus on important differences and makes them aware of the many sides of a topic.
-When used in writing, it's an excellent way to begin the last or the second to the last paragraph
-When used in speech, you can use it to give the final instructions or end a conversation
There are certain connectors that we usually use during conclusions or when we’ve reached the end of what we wanted to say. When writing or stating conclusions, you usually repeat the most important points.
Here are some quick tips that’ll help you learn English connectors more efficiently.
Make Your Own Sentences
To explain the meanings and uses of different connectors, I’ve provided example sentences for each. However, you’ll remember them much better if you come up with your own examples.
You can start by using connectors in your diary entries, notebooks, essays and the like. Soon, you’ll find yourself using these connectors in everyday speech as well!
Write a Short Story or Essay
To see the huge difference English connectors can make, try writing a paragraph without any connectors and then rewrite it using some of the connectors above. You’ll quickly realize that your sentences will flow better, sound more logical and become easier to understand.
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Start with multiple-choice questions and advance through sentence building to producing your own output
Go from understanding to speaking in a natural progression.
You probably want to speak English like a native (or at least try to). So why not learn from natives? Try watching a speech in English to get a good idea of how these fit together. Look for the ones with transcripts that you can write notes in, maybe even circling all of the connecting terms as you see them.
You could also try a virtual immersion program. FluentU, for example, has a wide variety of videos on all kinds of topics.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
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There’s also ToLearnEnglish, which provides a brief list of common connectors before you solve the exercise, making it a great resource for review.
Now that you know the most commonly-used English connectors, you can use them in sentences and paragraphs with great confidence. Try your hand at some of the exercises I’ve suggested for practice.
So what are you waiting for?
Get out there and start incorporating these useful English connectors into your everyday life!
If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.
The FluentU app and website makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition, and useful examples.
FluentU lets you learn engaging content with world famous celebrities.
For example, when you tap on the word "searching," you see this:
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Learn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.
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The best part? FluentU remembers the vocabulary that you’re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You have a truly personalized experience.