In this post, we explore some common connecting words, also known as linking or transition words. In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 49 in ADVERBs/as modifiers is defined as:
adverbs as discourse markers to organise text. (position)
For example:
Finally, I just take a rest.
PELIC STUDENT: Arabic, Male, level 3, writing class
Although the title of this post lists only 4 examples that are found in the EGP examples, there are many more one could manually locate that relate to organizing the ideas in a text. If we just want words for sequencing then we should consider:
first (ly); second (ly); third (ly); another; additionally; finally moreover; also; subsequently; eventually; next; then
Here we do a search in iWeb corpus for
. _R ,
1 . HOWEVER, 2766869
2 . ALSO, 705751
3 . SO, 661814
4 . NOW, 367181
5 . THEREFORE, 322268
6 . INSTEAD, 299474
7 . THEN, 284991
8 . ADDITIONALLY, 270679 B2 connecting words
What’s more, sometimes, when you do have pain,
an abnormality on MRI may have nothing to do with it.
Additionally, an MRI doesn’t always capture what‘s happening with your muscles
or tell us how pain is being processed in the brain.
9 . UNFORTUNATELY, 261850
10 . THUS, 246490
11 . FINALLY, 216695
12 . WELL, 212120
13 . AGAIN, 196715
14 . TODAY, 190162
15 . FURTHERMORE, 183912
16 . MOREOVER, 167331
17 . STILL, 153125
18 . INDEED, 143149
19 . MEANWHILE, 126679
20 . OTHERWISE, 119167
21 . HERE, 110723
22 . SIMILARLY, 99036
23 . SURE, 94663
24 . YET, 93918
25 . NEVERTHELESS, 89720
26 . ANYWAY, 88350
27 . FORTUNATELY, 87499
28 . ALTERNATIVELY, 84292
29 . OVERALL, 78493
30 . FURTHER, 74402
31 . CURRENTLY, 72690
32 . RATHER, 71875
33 . SOMETIMES, 65286
34 . HENCE, 63787
35 . BASICALLY, 63060
36 . LIKEWISE, 62269
37 . CONSEQUENTLY, 58895
38 . ACTUALLY, 58037
39 . OBVIOUSLY, 57740
40 . GENERALLY, 57063
41 . BESIDES, 56920
42 . SPECIFICALLY, 56502
43 . LUCKILY, 55499
44 . LATER, 55239
45 . TYPICALLY, 54189
46 . EVENTUALLY, 52347
47 . PERSONALLY, 48521
48 . ULTIMATELY, 47542
49 . OFTEN, 45673
50 . SADLY, 45089
51 . SECONDLY, 40848
52 . USUALLY, 40799
53 . RECENTLY, 40656
54 . THERE, 40404
55 . LASTLY, 40045 (B2)
56 . NONETHELESS, 39687
57 . TOGETHER, 39342
58 . INTERESTINGLY, 38476
59 . THANKFULLY, 38404
60 . ACCORDINGLY, 38196
61 . PREVIOUSLY, 35191
62 . CONVERSELY, 32747
63 . IDEALLY, 32376
64 . HOPEFULLY, 30763
65 . APPARENTLY, 30059
66 . HONESTLY, 28518
67 . OK, 27925
68 . NATURALLY, 27766
69 . ESSENTIALLY, 27250
70 . FIRSTLY, 26769
71 . REGARDLESS, 26295
72 . CLEARLY, 26259
73 . SERIOUSLY, 26137
74 . OKAY, 25326
75 . NORMALLY, 25147
76 . INITIALLY, 21332
77 . IRONICALLY, 20235
78 . REALLY, 20153
79 . SUDDENLY, 19514
80 . AFTERWARDS, 18207
81 . CERTAINLY, 17487
82 . PLEASE, 16656
83 . SOON, 16565
84 . OCCASIONALLY, 15816
85 . NOWADAYS, 15036
86 . FRANKLY, 14964
87 . HISTORICALLY, 14853
88 . SURPRISINGLY, 14676
89 . TRADITIONALLY, 14124
90 . BELOW, 13625
91 . INSIDE, 13525
92 . SUBSEQUENTLY, 12556
93 . WHY, 11752
94 . IMPORTANTLY, 11549
95 . SOMEHOW, 10917
96 . PERHAPS, 10375
97 . ORIGINALLY, 10182
98 . NOTABLY, 9956
99 . INCIDENTALLY, 9710
100 . ADMITTEDLY, 9653
*Even though ‘actually’ is in the English Grammar Profile examples, it seems odd that it falls into the same kind of ‘listing’ adverbs.