Connecting Ideas in your Essay - Part 1

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One of the things that IELTS scorers are looking for is how well ideas are connected. In your IELTS essay, you can't just list many unconnected ideas. You need to explain how your ideas fit together logically. To do that, you can use transition words and phrases. Ideas can be connected in 12 different ways:

- Listing
- Addition
- Summary
- Contrast (Including Concession)
- Compare
- Similarity
- Cause & Effect (Result)
- Generalizing
- Reformulation
- Highlighting
- Giving Examples
- Alternatives

In this lesson, you will learn how to use the following connection types: Listing, Addition, and Summary. We'll also touch on Contrast (Including Concession) and Similarity connection types.

Lesson Introduction

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In your essay, you need to use transition words and phrases to connect ideas.

This is the first part of a two-part lesson about how to connect ideas in the TOEFL Academic Discussion Writing Task.

When TOEFL raters read your writing, they look for unity, progression, and coherence. That means your ideas must fit together and flow smoothly. You cannot just list many ideas — you need to show how they are related. To do that, we use transition words and phrases. These words help the reader understand how one idea connects to the next.

Ideas can connect in many ways. Here are 12 common types of connections:

Listing
Addition
Summary
Contrast (including Concession)
Compare
Similarity
Cause & Effect (Result)
Generalizing
Reformulation
Highlighting
Giving Examples
Alternatives

In this lesson, we will focus on five of them: "Listing", "Addition", "Summary", "Contrast", and "Similarity".

Let’s learn transition words for listing, adding, and summarizing ideas.

In the TOEFL Academic Discussion, you can make your writing clearer by using these types of connections:

Listing - to show several main points in order.
Addition - to add more information or another idea.
Summary - to finish your writing with a short conclusion.

These help your answer sound clear and organized. For example, you can use listing and addition transitions when writing your key points, and summary transitions at the end.

Here are some useful transition words for the listing type:

First / Second / Third
Firstly / Secondly / Thirdly
For one thing / For another thing
In the first place / In the second place
To begin with / To start with / First of all
Finally / Lastly
Last but not least – means the last idea is still important.

Now let’s see common transition words for the addition type:

In addition
Furthermore
Additionally
Also
Next
Moreover
What’s more
On top of that

For example, you can say: "To begin with, smoking harms health. Furthermore, it affects others. Finally, it is expensive." These transitions make your writing easy to follow.

To finish your essay, use summary transitions such as:

In conclusion
To sum up
All things considered
All in all

Let’s look at an example essay using transition words.

The short essay below uses listing, addition, and summary transitions to connect ideas clearly.

In some countries people are not allowed to smoke in public places and office buildings. Do you think this is a good rule or a bad rule? Use reasons and examples to support your opinion.

In my opinion, it is a good rule to ban smoking in public places. First of all, smoking in public can harm people’s health because of secondhand smoke. For one thing, secondhand smoke can cause cancer. For another thing, it can make people with asthma or a cough feel worse. Secondly, young people who see smokers may start smoking too. Moreover, being around smoke can make them curious and try cigarettes later. Lastly, if people cannot smoke at work, they may try to quit, which helps them live healthier lives.

To sum up, banning smoking in public is a good idea because it protects others and helps smokers stop the habit.

Continue to next part:

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Let’s learn transition words that show contrast and concession.

Sometimes, your ideas are different or even opposite. In that case, you can use transition words that show a contrast relationship. These words tell the reader that you are talking about something different from the previous idea.

Here are some common transition words that show contrast:

However
On the other hand
By contrast
On the contrary
Conversely

There is also a special type of contrast called a concession. A concession shows that you accept another point of view but still keep your own opinion. It is often used when the two ideas are surprising or not what the reader expects.

Here are transition words that show a concession relationship:

Nevertheless
Nonetheless
Even though
Although
Still

Using contrast and concession words makes your writing more natural and helps your ideas sound balanced and logical.

Let’s look at a sample essay using contrast and concession.

The essay below uses transition words that show contrast and concession between two ideas.

Students at universities often have a choice of where to live. They can live in dormitories on campus or rent apartments in the community. Compare the advantages of both and say which you prefer.

I would prefer to live in university housing because it has more advantages than living in an apartment. On one hand, living in an apartment has some benefits such as more privacy. On the other hand, living in a dormitory has special advantages. For example, social life is more active. Most dorms organize events where students can meet and make friends. There are also many activities on campus, such as sports and movie nights, all close to the dorm. In addition, dormitories often have game rooms, TVs, and free Internet and electricity. These are expensive in an apartment. All things considered, both dormitories and apartments have benefits. Nevertheless, I prefer dormitories because of the fun activities, free services, and chance to meet new people.

Let’s look at another sample essay.

This essay also uses contrast transitions to compare two ideas clearly.

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Universities should give the same amount of money to student sports activities as they give to libraries. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

In my view, universities should give more money to sports than to libraries. To begin with, while libraries are important, they do not need large budgets every year. Once the library has books and computers, it only needs small updates from time to time. By contrast, sports facilities need money every year for fields, courts, and equipment. Teams also need coaches, uniforms, and travel expenses. Therefore, sports require more money than libraries. Supporting sports helps many students stay healthy and active, which also benefits the university community.

You've completed the lesson: Connecting Ideas in your Essay - Part 1

What would you like to do next?

Select a different lesson.

Start the next lesson: How to Show Contrast Relationships in your Essay

Start Next Lesson: How to Show Contrast Relationships in your Essay

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