Pssst….I’ve got confidential insider info to share with you! Can you guess what subject almost 100% of my SAT and ACT tutoring clients need major help with when they sit down in my office for the first time? Transitions.
By “transitions,” I mean words and short phrases like “furthermore,” “while,” “by contrast,” and “because” that help the reader understand what she just read and more quickly suss out how certain sentences in a passage relate to each other. Now, not every sentence needs a Transition to be complete and grammatical…but, transitions come in SERIOUSLY handy as a reader navigates a piece of writing!
Now why am I, a test prep wiz, dedicating a whole blog post to this topic? Well, because both the ACT English section and the Digital SAT Reading and Writing section test this concept quite a bit. Meaning: whichever test you’re taking, spending some time getting a grip on this topic will gain you significant points come test day!
ARTICLE CONTENTS
Digital SAT and ACT Transition Word Categories
When it comes to transition words, we’re looking at three main types:
I) Words that Continue
II) Words that Contrast, and
III) Words that show Cause-and-Effect.
Additionally, each of these three categories can be further subdivided by specific function. For the sake of clarity, I’m listing all the words from each category below. That said, there are still differences between them:
You will notice that some words have commas after them. That means that they are what I call “hard transition words,” which act like extra information in a sentence. Hard transition words—technically “adverbs”—don’t change whether the clause is considered complete or dependent. Instead, they simply add commentary.
Other transition words don’t have a comma after them, like FANBOYS words. These do change the clause! They affect whether the clause is complete or dependent. I think of this type as “soft transition words.”
Furthermore, some transition words require certain verb forms, like using an “-ing” verb. These will be noted below.
I. CONTINUE words.
A) Words that add a piece of information to the same subject you were already discussing:
(ex: My stapler is six inches long. Additionally, it’s light gray.)
Additionally,
Also,
And [FANBOYS]
Furthermore,
In addition,
Moreover,
B) Words that show how two things are similar:
(ex: My stapler is light gray. Likewise, my ruler is light gray.)
Likewise,
Similarly,
C) Words that PROVIDE a specific example OF something you just said:
(ex: Many office supplies these days are light gray. For example, my stapler and ruler are both this color.)
For example,
For instance,
Specifically,
D) Words that clarify or explain something you just said:
(ex: In our capitalist and increasingly visual society, office supply companies are catering to the demands of the public by creating aesthetically-pleasing models of previously ugly or boring items. In other words, they are selling light gray and pink rulers and staplers instead of the gaudy neon or basic wooden versions of old.)
Effectively,
Essentially,
In other words,
That is,
E) Words that emphasize something you just said:
(ex: Office supply companies are more concerned with appealing to as broad an audience as possible. In fact, they seem to think it’s more important to make staplers available in every color than to ensure that the staplers actually hold pages together well!)
In fact,
Indeed,
II. CONTRAST words.
A) Words that show how two ideas contradict or go against ONE other:
Alternatively,
Although
But [FANBOYS]
Conversely,
Despite [+“ing” verb]
Even so,
However,
In any case,
In spite of [+”ing” verb]
Instead,
Meanwhile,
Nevertheless,
Nonetheless,
Otherwise,
Rather,
Regardless,
Still,
Though
Whereas
While
Yet [FANBOYS]
To recap: Hard transitions are separated by commas and do not impact the clause’s completeness. Soft transitions are NOT separated by commas and (like magic) they turn complete clauses into dependent ones!
Example 1 with hard transition, which maintains two complete clauses and is separated by a comma from the surrounding word(s): She was thirsty. However, she didn’t drink the seltzer.
Example 2 with soft transition that creates a dependent clause and is not separated by a comma from the subsequent word: Despite being thirsty, she didn’t drink the seltzer.
B) Words that show how two things or people are different from each other:
Alternately,
Alternatively,
By contrast,
In contrast,
On the contrary,
On the other hand,
III. CAUSE-AND-EFFECT words.
A) Words that come before the reason/cause:
(Ex: Because she was so thirsty, she drank an entire case of seltzers.)
Because
For [FANBOYS]
Since
B) Words that indicate the result/effect:
(Ex: She was quite thirsty. Therefore, she drank an entire case of seltzers.)
Accordingly,
As a result,
As such,
Consequently,
Hence,
So [FANBOYS]
Thus,
Therefore,
To these ends,
...capice?
Geez, who knew there were so many transition words?!
It’s worth powering through all of them, though, because you can use these categories and subcategories in two very important ways that grab you extra points on your SAT or ACT. As for HOW to apply this valuable knowledge you’ve just gained, check out my two tried-and-true strategies for answering transition word questions!
And if you’re looking for MANY other methods for upping your grammar skills and winning lots of SAT/ACT points, I’ve got lots more resources for you. My ACT Grammar Cram Plan is a self-study guide that brings you through all of the grammar and rhetorical strategy content you’ll need to ace your ACT English section. And of course I offer a Digital SAT Grammar version, too!
