Welcome to this week's writing lesson from

 MyEnglishTeacher.net

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Lesson Topic: Using Connectors and Words that Add to Ideas. 

Look at these two sentences.  Is there anything wrong with them?  There is nothing wrong with them, but a word that connects these two sentences is often added.  Adding a connector would clearly show a relationship between the two sentences and ideas.

In this lesson, we would like to introduce connectors and words that are commonly used in professional, business, and university writing.  Although the words have different grammatical names, they share one thing in common: they all continue or add to ideas that were written in the preceding sentence.   

These words are not interchangeable.  In other words, you cannot remove one of these words and add any other.  The best way to explain how to use these words is to simply give you examples.  One thing they all have in common is that they are usually attached to clauses.  That means they are attached to a group of words that contains a subject and a verb.  For more information on clauses, see our lessons on sentence fragments and run-on sentences. 

We will use the same sentences in order to illustrate how the words are used and to show their different positions in the sentences.  The positions of the words that we show you are the most common but not necessarily the only positions.

Moreover,

The library on 5th Avenue in New York City is one of the best places to do research.  Moreover, it has hundreds of the most respected magazines and journals in the world.

In addition,

The library on 5th Avenue in New York City is one of the best places to do research.  In addition, it has hundreds of the most respected magazines and journals in the world.

Furthermore,

The library on 5th Avenue in New York City is one of the best places to do research.  Furthermore, it has hundreds of the most respected magazines and journals in the world.

Also

The library on 5th Avenue in New York City is one of the best places to do research.  It also has hundreds of the most respected magazines and journals in the world.   *The word also comes before the verb.  If the verb is a form of to be, also is placed after the verb.

As well

The library on 5th Avenue in New York City is one of the best places to do research.  It has hundreds of the most respected magazines and journals in the world as well.

Too

The library on 5th Avenue in New York City is one of the best places to do research.  It has hundreds of the most respected magazines and journals in the world, too.

Additionally,

The library on 5th Avenue in New York City is one of the best places to do research.  Additionally, it has hundreds of the most respected magazines and journals in the world.

And

The library on 5th Avenue in New York City is one of the best places to do research, and it has hundreds of the most respected magazines and journals in the world.

Not only. . . but also

The library on 5th Avenue in New York City is not only one of the best places to do research but also has hundreds of the most respected magazines and journals in the world. *The subject after but also is usually omitted if but and also remain together, and the subject is the same for both clauses (parts) of the sentence.

Besides that,

The library on 5th Avenue in New York City is one of the best places to do research.  Besides that, it has hundreds of the most respected magazines and journals in the world. *That refers to what was said in the first sentence.  Though this use of the word besides is not written often, it is commonly used in speech.  Besides must be followed by an object.

Quiz

Directions: Rewrite the following sentences with the connectors and words we learned in this lesson.

My professor is an extremely fascinating person.  She tells some of the most interesting stories I have ever heard.  

1.)  Additionally,

____________________________________________________
2.)  In addition,

____________________________________________________
3.)  Too

____________________________________________________
4.)  Also

____________________________________________________
5.)  Furthermore,

____________________________________________________
6.)  Besides that,

____________________________________________________
7.) And

____________________________________________________
8.)  Moreover,

____________________________________________________
9.)  As well

____________________________________________________
10.)  Not only...but also

____________________________________________________

In general, do not use two of these words or phrases in the same sentence.  The following sentence is incorrect:

In general, when you use these words and connectors, make sure the two sentences/ideas are related.  The second sentence/idea should add information that is specifically related to the first idea.  Take a look at the following example:

This first sentence discusses the importance and usefulness of the library on 5th Avenue in New York City.  The second sentence tells you that people like to go to libraries.  Although these sentences both talk about libraries, the second sentence (which has furthermore) does not add information related to the library on 5th Avenue in New York City.  Therefore, the second sentence inappropriately uses furthermore.

Don't overuse connectors!  It is unnecessary to use them everywhere in your writing.  Use connectors when you want to do the following:

• clearly show a relationship between ideas

• add information that builds on the idea in the preceding sentence