Writing Center Tutorial - Grammar
Transition Words
Subordinating Conjunctions
Conjunctions are joining words. Subordinating conjunctions join dependent clauses (those that cannot stand alone) to independent clauses (complete sentences in themselves). These conjunctions act as bridges between clauses by expressing relationships of time, condition, and cause and effect. Some subordinating conjunctions are:
| After | Because | Except (that) | Since | When |
| Although | Before | If (only) | Though | Whenever |
| As | By the time | In case | Until | While |
| As far as | Even though | In order that | Unless | Whether |
Examples:
Although Mary arrived late for the concert, she easily found her seat.
You are going to school whether you like it or not!
Conjunctive Adverbs
These words act as both adverbs and conjunctions at the same time. Usually a semi-colon is placed before a conjunctive adverb and is followed by a comma. Please note that conjunctive adverbs are not used as subordinators.
| Accordingly | First, second | However | Meanwhile | Still |
| Also | Furthermore | Indeed | Moreover | Then |
| Besides | Hence | Instead | Nevertheless | Therefore |
| Consequently | Henceforth | Likewise | Otherwise | Thus |
Examples:
For Christmas vacation, Ted and John wanted to go to Alaska; instead, they went to Florida.
Frieda won a million dollars in the lottery; thus, she moved into a higher tax bracket.
Relative Pronouns
These words are called relative pronouns because they relate one part of a sentence to another. They connect two parts of a sentence by referring to the noun for which they stand.
who, what, that, when, whom, where, which
Examples:Consuelo gave a gift to Gene whom she has known since the sixth grade.
I can't wait until 6:00 pm which is the time I eat dinner.
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