What are transition words?

A word or phrase that links two ideas or sentences

These show how ideas connect If there are no transitions, readers must

make the ‘connections’ on their own This slows reading down and makes it

confusing

Example:John skipped meals regularly.Therefore, he was always hungry.

It was an unusually cold spring. The trees were leafing out.

It was an unusually cold spring. However, the trees were leafing out.

Walt never cleaned out the inside of his car. Nevertheless, it smelled and looked horrible!

This transition makes no sense. It suggests a contrast when no contrast is asked for.

Walt never cleaned out the inside of his car. Consequently, it smelled and looked horrible!

Can occur anywhere - At the beginning of a sentence In the middle of a sentence At the end of a sentence

A transition word directly tells the reader thelogical relationship between one idea andanother idea.

Idea Idea

Transition

Above Across Against Along Among Around Behind Below Beneath Beside Between Beyond By

Down In back of In front of Inside Into Near Off Onto On top of Outside Over Throughout To the right Under

While After At Before During First Second Third Now Until Meanwhile Today Tomorrow

Next week Yesterday Soon Later Afterward Immediately Finally Then Next As soon as When Suddenly

Likewise Like As Also While Similarly In the same way In contrast

But However Still Yet Although Otherwise On the other hand Even though

Ty’ree was all right after Mama died. But I was all wrong. The year before, I’d seen this show about snakes. They showed this one snake slipping out of its old skin and then leaving that old skin on the ground behind him. That’s how I felt – like Mama’d been my skin. But I hadn’t grown a new skin underneath, like that snake had. I was just blood and bones spreading all over the place. Every night Ty’ree stayed with me in my room till I cried myself to sleep. And the next morning he’d find me sleeping curled up on the floor beside his bed.

After a few weeks of me ending up on the floor, he called Aunt Cecile, and she came back to new York and asked around trying to find a doctor I could go to – a psychologist. Some afternoons I’d come home from school to find Aunt Cecile sitting at the dining room table writing down and crossing out numbers as she talked on the phone. And some evenings I’d catch her and Ty’ree whispering about different doctors, their fees and social benefits.

Then, one afternoon Aunt Cecile announced that she’d found a person I could talk to named Dr. Vernon. That Wednesday and for a whole lot of Wednesdays after that, Aunt Cecile would take me to Dr. Vernon – an old man with a nice office in Harlem.

-from Miracle Boys by Jacqueline Woodson

Ty’ree was all right after Mama died. But I was all wrong. The year before, I’d seen this show about snakes. They showed this one snake slipping out of its old skin and then leaving that old skin on the ground behind him. That’s how I felt – like Mama’d been my skin. But I hadn’t grown a new skin underneath, like that snake had. I was just blood and bones spreading all over the place. Every night Ty’ree stayed with me in my room till I cried myself to sleep. And the next morning he’d find me sleeping curled up on the floor beside his bed.

After a few weeks of me ending up on the floor, he called Aunt Cecile, and she came back to new York and asked around trying to find a doctor I could go to – a psychologist. Some afternoons I’d come home from school to find Aunt Cecile sitting at the dining room table writing down and crossing out numbers as she talked on the phone. And some evenings I’d catch her and Ty’ree whispering about different doctors, their fees and social benefits.

Then, one afternoon Aunt cEcile announced that she’d found a person I could talk to named Dr. Vernon. That Wednesday and for a whole lot of Wednesdays after that, Aunt Cecile would take me to Dr. Vernon – an old man with a nice office in Harlem.