As promised, here is the second half of legal writing expert Ross Guberman’s handy list of transition words for lawyers and other advocates—organized according to the purpose of the sentence. (If you missed last month’s article, read it here: Broaden and Deepen Your Repertoire of Transitions) Use them to make your writing read more easily and flow more smoothly.
| To Draw a Contrast | |
| At the same time | Instead |
| But | Nevertheless |
| By contrast | Not |
| Despite | Rather |
| For all that | Unlike (in) |
| However | Yet |
| In contrast | |
| In the meantime | |
| To Give an Example | |
| As an example | Including |
| As in | In that regard |
| By way of example | Like |
| First, second, third, etc. | Say |
| For example | Such as |
| For instance | Suppose (as first word of sentence) |
| For one thing | Take (as first word of sentence) |
| Imagine (as first word of sentence) | To illustrate |
| To Concede a Point or to Preempt a Counterargument | |
| All of that may be true, but | For all that |
| All the same | Of course |
| Although | On the other hand |
| At least | Otherwise |
| At the same time | Still |
| Even assuming | That said |
| Even so | To be sure |
| Even still | True enough |
| Even though | |
| Even under | |
| To Redirect | |
| At any rate | |
| (Even) more to the point | |
| In all events | |
| In any event | |
| To Emphasize or Expand | |
| Above all | In fact |
| All the more because | In other words |
| All the more reason | In particular |
| All the more X because Y | Indeed |
| By extension | Not only X, but (also) Y |
| Especially | Particularly |
| Even more (so) | Put another way |
| In effect | Simply put |
About the author:
Savannah Blackwell is a former news reporter who covered government and politics in San Francisco for more than a decade and is now Of Counsel at Renne Public Law Group. She can be reached at savannah.blackwell@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SavannahBinSF.