Page 143 - English Vocabualry In Use 3 (Upper Intermediate)

68 Linking words in writing

A Organising a formal text

First /Firstly /First of all,wemustconsider…
Next,itisimportanttorememberthat…
Secondly andthirdly arealsousedwithfirst/firstlyforlists.
Finally/Lastly,weshouldrecallthat…(coming to the final point on a list)
Turning to thequestionofforeignpolicy,…(changing to a new topic)
Leaving aside thequestionofpollution,therearealsootherreasons…(the writer will not deal with
that question here)
In parenthesis,letusnotforgetthat…(making a point that is a side issue, not part of the main argument)
In summary/To sum up,wemaystatethat…(listing / summing up the main points)
In sum,theeconomicissuesareatthecentreofthisdebate…(listing / summing up the main points:
much more formal)
In conclusion /To conclude,Ishouldliketopointoutthat…(finishing the text)

Common mistakes

Lastly is used when making a final point, e.g. Lastly, let us consider what the future holds. (NOT At last let
us consider …) At last means finally after a long time, e.g. At last I’ve finished my essay - what a relief!

B Linking words for explaining, exemplifying, rephrasing, etc.

Tolearnnewwordsproperlyalotofrecyclingisneeded;inotherwords/thatistosay,youhaveto
studythesamewordsoverandoveragain.(thatistosayismuchmoreformal)
SomeEnglishwordsarehardtopronounce,forexample/forinstance,‘eighth’.
Itmightbepossible,say,toincludetheparentsinthediscussion.(similartoforexample;notethe
commas before and after; say is also common in spoken English)
TheParliamenthasdifferentcommittees.Briefly,theseconsistoftwomaintypes.[theexplanation
will be short and not comprehensive]
Sheis,sotospeak/asitwere,livinginaworldofherown.(makeswhatyouaresayingsoundless
definite/precise; as it were is more formal)

C Referring backwards and forwards in the text
The following pointswillbecoveredinthisessay:…(used to introduce a list)
Itwasstatedabove/earlierthatthehistoryoftheUSAis…[earlierinthetext]
See page238formoreinformation.[go to page 238]

Manywritershaveclaimedthis(seebelow).[exampleswillbegivenlaterinthetext]
Afulllistisgivenoverleaf.[turnthepageandyouwillfindthelist]
Forfurtherdetails/discussion,seeChapter4.[morediscussion/details]
MayIreferyoutopage3ofmylastlettertoyou?[MayIaskyoutolookat/read;fml]
th
With reference to youremailof12 March,…(often used at the beginning of a letter or email to link it
with an earlier text; fml)

142 English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate