Persuasive Writing: Signal Words

Persuasive Writing:  Signal Words

TRANSITIONAL PHRASES

INTRODUCTORY PHRASES
In my opinion I believe It is my belief that	There is no doubt that From my point of view It seems to me that	I question whether I (dis) agree with I maintain that
CONCLUDING PHRASES
For the reasons above As you can see As I have noted In other words On the whole	In short To be sure Without a doubt Obviously Unquestionably	In brief Undoubtedly In any case Summarizing In any event
SUPPORTING OPINIONS
First           Furthermore Second      In addition Third          Also Finally        Last	Equally important In the first place Likewise	Besides          Further Next               Again Moreover       Similarly
INTRODUCING DETAILS
For example In fact	For instance As evidence	In support of this
CAUSE AND EFFECT
Since Because of Due to For this reason Therefore If…then	Caused by This results in Consequently Accordingly As a result of Leads to	In effect Brought about Made possible As might be expected Give rise to Was responsible for
COMPARE AND CONTRAST
Similarly Compared to In like manner On the other hand Although Even though	Likewise In the same way Contrasting On the contrary As opposed to Rather than Nevertheless	As well as Have in common All are The same as Conversely Whether of not In spite of
COUNTERING
I realize you I understand you Even though you Although you Some people It may be that you Your idea to ____ deserves some merit	Believe Feel Maintain Want Favour Support Argue State	But Yet However I doubt I question Let me explain On the other hand Nevertheless

TRANSITIONS

When you want to start an example or illustration:

She loves fine clothes. For example, her prom dress cost nearly two hundred dollars.

Jim sometimes becomes bored easily. For instance, I remember something that happened last summer.

When you want to contrast one thing with another:

Mary is one of my best friends.  However, she sometimes makes me angry by being late.

Jack is a good swimmer. Even so, he has never won a trophy,

I saw her once when I felt awful.  Nevertheless, we had a wonderful time.

When you want to add another idea:

Tom is crazy about his motorcycle. Furthermore, he does all the maintenance on it himself.

Mr. Johnston is an excellent teacher. Moreover, he is very popular with his students.

Everybody likes Lou. In addition, he seems to like everyone he meets.

When you want to show that one thing causes another:

Sam isn't very organized. Consequently, he sometimes doesn't seem to know what he is doing.

One time he forgot his wife's birthday. As a result, she was very angry.

Al jogs three miles a day. Therefore, he is in good shape. .

When you want to summarize or generalize:

That really bothered me. But on the whole, he is a pretty good guy.

He is sensitive, warm, and considerate. In short, I love him.