Useful expressions and linking words/phrases • To list points: Firstly, First of all, In the first place, To begin/start with, Secondly, Thirdly, Finally • To list advantages: One/Another/A further/An additional (major) advantage of… is … The main/greatest/first advantage of… is … • To list disadvantages: One/Another/ A further/An additional (major) disadvantage/drawback of. The main/greatest/most serious/first disadvantage /drawback of… Another negative aspect of… • To introduce points/arguments for or against: One (very convincing) point/argument in favour of… / against, A further common criticism of… / It could be argued that….. often claimed/suggested It is widely argued maintained that….. generally felt/believed/held
Some/many/most people/experts/scientist/skeptics/critics claim/suggest/argue/feel that… maintain/believe/point out/agree/hold that… advocate (+ing/noun)/support the view that… oppose the view that… are in favour of/against… are of the opinion that/convinced that… are opposed to…
• To add more points to the same topic: in addition (to this), furthermore, moreover, besides, apart from, what is more, as well as, not to mention (the fact) that, also, not only … but also/as well, both … and, There is another side to the issue/question/argument of… • To make contrasting points: on the other hand, however, still, yet, but, nonetheless, nevertheless, even so, it may be said/argued/claimed that,… others/many people oppose this viewpoint/strongly disagree…, claim/feel/believe this argument is incorrect/misguided although, though, even though, while, whilst, whereas, despite/in spite of (the fact that), regardless of the fact that Opponents of … argue/believe/claim that… The fact that… contradicts the belief/idea that… While it is true to say that…, in fact… While/Although …, it cannot be denied that…
Useful expressions and linking words/phrases • To introduce examples: for example, for instance, such as, like, in particular, particularly, especially, This is (clearly) illustrated/shown by the fact that… One/A clear/striking/ typical example of (this)… The fact that…. shows/illustrates that… • To emphasise a point: clearly, obviously, it is obvious, naturally, of course, needless to say, indeed • To express reality: In fact, the fact (of the matter) is, actually, in practice, it is a fact that, in effect • To make general statements: as a (general) rule, generally, in general, on the whole, by and large, in most cases • To make partially correct statements: to a certain extent/degree, to some extent/degree, in a way/sense, this is partly true (but), to a limited extent, there is some truth in (this), in some cases, up to a point • To explain/clarify a point: in other words, that is to say, this/which means that • To express cause: owing to, due to (the fact that), on account of, on the grounds that, given that, because, as, since • To express effect: therefore, thus, as a result/consequence, consequently, so, for this reason, if… were to happen, … the effect/result would be… • To express intention: to, so as to, in order to, so that, with the intention of (+ing)
