Who isn’t already familiar with the English paragraph? It’s conceptually a collection of sentences about a central topic that exhibits unity and coherence, typically starting with a
topic sentence that it then develops and explains.
Not all paragraphs need a topic sentence, however; they could simply be indicators of breathing or structural pauses in narratives, dialogues, and explanatory statements usually marked for the purpose—but not always, like this particular paragraph—by a new, usually indented line. In any case, paragraphs always serve as functional transitions from one set of thoughts to another.
Part I – Basic forms of paragraph transitionsMost of the familiar devices for linking sentences can also serve as transitional devices for paragraphs. In much the same way that they bridge adjoining sentences, the linking words “besides,” “similarly,” “above all,” and “as a consequence” can effectively bridge a succeeding paragraph to the one preceding it.
Let’s begin with two very basic forms of paragraph transitions.
The first basic form is to simply repeat in the first sentence of the next paragraph the same operative word or phrase used in the last sentence of its preceding paragraph, as the word “process” does in this excerpt from William Zinsser’s book
On Writing Well:“Ideally the relationship between a writer and an editor should be one of negotiation and trust…The process, in short, is one in which the writer and the editor proceed through the manuscript together, finding for every problem the solution that best serves the finished article.
“It’s a process that can be done just as well over the phone as in person…”
The second basic form substitutes a phrase synonymous to “it’s a process” above to begin the second paragraph like, say, “
This kind of review can be done just as well over the phone as in person…”
In practice, the choice of paragraph transition device is largely determined by any of these seven major development tasks that the new paragraph is intended to do:
1. Amplifying a point or adding to it. To elaborate on an idea at some length, transition to a succeeding paragraph can be effected by using whichever of these words and phrases is appropriate: “also,” “moreover,” “furthermore,” “in addition,” “similarly,” “another reason,” and “likewise.”
2. Establishing a causal relationship. To discuss the result of something described in a preceding paragraph, a logical transition can be achieved by introducing the succeeding paragraphs with any of these words or phrases: “so,” “as a result,” “therefore,” “consequently,” “then,” and “thus.”
3. Establishing a temporal relationship. This can be done by simply using the following adverbs or adverbial phrases to introduce succeeding paragraphs in chronological order: “as soon as,” “before,” “afterward,” “after,” “since,” “recently,” “eventually,” “subsequently,” “at the same time,” “next,” “then,” “until,” “last,” “later,” “earlier,” and “thereafter.”
4. Presenting an example. For this specific purpose, a quick transition can be achieved by using these words or phrases to begin the next paragraph: “for instance,” “for example,” “in particular,” “particularly,” “specifically,” and “to illustrate.”
5. Making an analogy. The words “also,” “likewise,” “similarly,” “in the same manner,” and “analogously” can be used to make an effective transition to a succeeding paragraph intended to make a comparison with what has been taken up in a preceding paragraph.
6. Providing an alternative. Alternatives to an idea presented in a preceding paragraph can be introduced in the paragraph that follows by using any of these transitional words: “however,” “in contrast,” “although,” “though,” “nevertheless,” “but,” “still,” “yet,” “alternatively,” and “on the other hand.”
7. Conceding a point. An effective strategy to demolish a contrary view is to quickly concede it in a paragraph introduced by such transitional words as “to be sure,” “no doubt,” “granted that,” “although,” and “it is true.” The rest of the paragraph can then present arguments to discredit the wisdom of that contrary view.
Of course, more elaborate compositions such as essays and dissertations will often need more sophisticated paragraph transitions than the conjunctive adverbs and transitional phrases presented in the above development tasks.
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This reprises and updates the author’s 2006 series in his English Plain and Simple columns
on making effective paragraph transitions.
This essay, 2127th of the series, appears in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the December 1, 2022 digital edition of The Manila Times
, ©2022 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.Read this essay in
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Making effective paragraph transitions - 1 (Next week:
Making effective paragraph transitions - 2) December 8, 2022
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