Transition words, topic sentences and paragraph structure: how a paragraph holds together

A transition word names the logical move between two sentences: adding (also, moreover), contrasting (however, yet), causing (therefore, as a result), sequencing (first, then, finally), illustrating (for example), conceding (admittedly, granted). The word only works if the move is real. A paragraph holds together when its first sentence gives it one job (the topic sentence), the middle does that job with evidence, and the transitions say how each sentence follows from the last. Here is the list by job, then the paragraph it serves. In Canada and the UK the same list is searched for as linking words; it is one list.

Transition words, grouped by the move they make

Each row is a move, the words that make it, and one pair of our sentences showing it. The sentences are about the running example of this section, a proposal to move a school's first bell to 9 am, and are written for this page.

The move	The words	A pair that makes it
Adding	also, moreover, in addition, furthermore, besides, as well	The 9 am bell would add an hour of sleep. It would also cut the 7 am bus run.
Contrasting	however, yet, but, on the other hand, whereas, still, nevertheless	Attendance rose in the pilot. However, the sports schedule lost its afternoon slot.
Cause and effect	therefore, so, as a result, consequently, because of this, hence	The second bus loop already runs at 8:40. As a result, no new buses are needed.
Sequence	first, then, next, after that, finally, meanwhile	First the board surveys parents. Then it costs the change.
Illustrating	for example, for instance, in particular, such as, to illustrate	Some costs are hidden. For example, after-school jobs start later too.
Conceding and returning	admittedly, granted, of course, it is true that ... still, even so	Admittedly, the pilot ran for one term. Even so, the attendance gain was larger than any other change the board has tried.

Two words to gloss. To concede is to admit that the other side has a point before you answer it. Consequently means "as a result of that".

Some words are formal (moreover, consequently, nevertheless) and some are conversational (plus, so, but). Both are correct English; the register of the essay decides which. A Grade 12 argument essay sits in the middle: however and as a result are at home, plus is not, and moreover at the head of every paragraph sounds like a costume.

The rule the list cannot replace: the move has to be real

A marker reads therefore as a promise: what follows is caused by what came before. Here is the promise broken, in a pair we wrote to break it:

The bus leaves at 7:10. Therefore, most students eat breakfast at school.

Nothing in the first sentence causes the second. Either the real connection goes on the page (The bus leaves at 7:10, before most kitchens are open, so most students eat breakfast at school) or the word comes out and the two sentences stand side by side. A therefore that does not follow is a non sequitur, the broken step on the list of the fallacies.

The SAT Reading and Writing section tests exactly this. Its Transitions skill gives a short passage with a blank and asks which word names the logical move the next sentence makes. Students who have memorised the list and not the moves lose those marks; students who ask "what is the relationship?" before they look at the choices keep them. SAT Reading and Writing practice has the section's other skills.

The topic sentence: one job for the paragraph

A topic sentence states the paragraph's single claim and ties it to the essay's thesis. In a school essay it comes first, nearly always, because the reader wants to know what the paragraph is for before they read the evidence. It is not a fact (a fact is evidence), not a quotation (a quotation is someone else's claim) and not a transition on its own (Another point is says nothing).

Three of ours, each for a different kind of paragraph:

• An argument paragraph. A 9 am bell would raise first-period attendance, which is where the marks are lost.
• A description paragraph. The 7:05 bus is the quietest room in the school district.
• A comparison paragraph. Two boards have tried a later bell, and the one that moved only the senior grades kept its bus budget.

Each sentence could be wrong, each tells the reader what the next five sentences will try to show, and each owes something to a thesis. How the topic sentences carry the thesis shows the same three reasons as a thesis and then as three topic sentences.

A paragraph with no topic sentence, and the repair

Here is a paragraph of ours with four facts about bus timetables and no claim at the top.

Before. The 7:05 bus serves the north routes. The 8:40 loop runs the same roads with half its seats filled. Drivers are paid for a split shift either way. The board's transport budget has not changed since 2019.

The reader's question after it: so what? Four true things, and no reason to have read them. The repair is one sentence at the top and one transition changed.

After. A 9 am bell would not need new buses, because the existing routes already run a second loop. The 7:05 bus serves the north routes, and the 8:40 loop runs the same roads with half its seats filled. Drivers are paid for a split shift either way, so the later run costs no extra wages. The budget has not changed since 2019, which means the second loop is already paid for. The real cost, then, is not buses but the afternoon.

Now name the parts. The topic sentence (the claim). The evidence (the two routes, the split shift, the budget). The sentence that says what the evidence shows (so the later run costs no extra wages; which means the second loop is already paid for). The link forward (The real cost, then, is not buses but the afternoon), which is the next paragraph's job announced. Where the evidence is a source rather than a timetable, it carries its citation at the point it is used; citing the evidence in the paragraph shows the two styles.

Paragraph structure: the pattern and its honest limits

Most schools teach a four-part pattern for an argument paragraph, under one acronym or another. In our words: the point (the topic sentence), the evidence, the explanation (what the evidence shows and why it supports the point) and the link (back to the thesis or forward to the next paragraph). It works because a reader of an argument wants exactly those four things in that order, and because it stops the most common fault, evidence with no sentence saying what it shows.

Where it fails. A narrative paragraph has no point to state; it has an event. A paragraph that answers an objection has three moves of its own (state the objection fairly, concede what is true, rebut). A transition paragraph, the short one that turns the essay from one half to the other, may be two sentences. Use the four-part pattern for argument paragraphs and let the others be what they are.

How long should a paragraph be? By job, not by count. In most school essays a paragraph with one job takes four to eight sentences. One that runs past a page is almost always two jobs that need splitting. A one-sentence paragraph is a device for emphasis; used once, it lands, used often, it is choppy.

Transitions between paragraphs

The first sentence of a paragraph looks back and forward at once: it names what has just been settled and what this paragraph will settle next. Three of ours:

• Cost is one objection; safety is the other.
• If the timetable allows it, the next question is whether students would use the hour.
• The attendance case is strong; the sleep case is where the evidence thins.

The weak version is Another reason is that .... It tells the reader a list is continuing and nothing about what the reason is. A transition sentence that names the new reason does the work the weak one promises.

The transitions that are overused, and what to do instead

• Firstly, secondly, thirdly. The order of the paragraphs already says this. Name the reason instead.
• In conclusion. Start the conclusion with the answer to the question.
• Furthermore at the head of every paragraph. Replace it with a transition sentence that names the new reason.
• This shows that. Say what it shows, without the frame.
• However joining two full sentences with a comma. The pilot raised attendance, however the buses cost more is a comma splice, because however is an adverb and cannot join two sentences on its own. A semicolon before it or a full stop mends it; the whole family of these faults is in comma splices and run-ons.

One honest line. When a marker writes "choppy", the fix is more often a missing idea than a missing word. Two sentences that sit side by side with no connection usually need a third sentence between them, not a moreover.

A checklist for one paragraph

Run it on a paragraph of your own before you hand it in.

1. Underline the topic sentence. If you cannot find one, write one: what does this paragraph claim?
2. Circle every transition and ask whether the move it names is real. A therefore with no cause comes out.
3. Find the sentence that says what the evidence shows. If the evidence is the last sentence, the paragraph ends on someone else's words; add the sentence.
4. Check that the last sentence points forward to the next paragraph's job.

Then read the paragraph aloud to someone. The place your voice stumbles is the joint that is missing; that is chapter 5 of the free playbook.

The paragraph on one screen

Six moves, two words each. Adding (also, moreover). Contrasting (however, yet). Cause (therefore, as a result). Sequence (first, then). Illustrating (for example, such as). Conceding (admittedly, even so).

Four parts. The topic sentence; the evidence; the sentence that says what it shows; the link forward.

Three checks. Is the move real? Is there a sentence a reader could point to as the claim? Does the last sentence hand over to the next paragraph?

In the Academic Writing course this page is idea 15, paragraphs: topic sentences, development and transitions; before it sits essay structure: introductions, body and conclusions, and after it academic style: formality, clarity and concision. The hub, where paragraphs sit in the essay, walks the whole order.