Conjunctive adverbs (which are sometimes also called
sentence connectors or transitional words) are commonly
used in serious business, technical, and academic writing.
Conjunctive adverbs are.similar in meaning to other types
of connecting words such as and, but, or, etc., but they
have one very important difference: they join sentences,
not parts of sentences.
1. CONJUCTIVE ADVERDS
Conjunctive adverbs (which are sometimes also called
sentence connectors or transitional words) are commonly
used in serious business, technical, and academic writing.
Conjunctive adverbs are, similar in meaning to other types
of connecting words such as and, but, or, etc., but they
have one very important difference: they join sentences,
not parts of sentences.
2. Conjunctive adverbs (or sentence connectors or
transitional words) join sentences, not parts of sentences.
In choosing a conjunctive adverb to use in connecting
sentences, the relationship between the sentences that
are to be connected is very important.
When what happens in one sentence is the result of what
happened in the preceding sentence, only a few conjunctive
adverbs can be used. The most common ones for this
situation are therefore, as a result, consequently, and
accordingly. All of these mean the same thing and are
used in the same way.
Examples:
3. CONJUCTIVE ADVERBS ALSO
HAVE SPECIAL PUNCTUATION
Conjunctive adverbs also have special punctuation:
with them, a semicolon or a period is used after the first
sentence, and a comma is usually used after the conjunctive
adverb. After the comma, the connected sentence follows.
Following are some common conjunctive adverbs, plus
general comments on their usage:
4. CONJUCTIVE ADVERBS USAGE
ACCORDINGLY SHOWING RESULTS
AS A RESULT SHOWING RESULTS
CONSEQUENTLY SHOWING RESULTS
THEREFORE SHOWING RESULTS
8. SPECIAL NOTE
Conjunctive adverbs are challenging to use appropriately
because they have special requirements for the kinds of
ideas and information that they connect. There will be
further information on conjunctive adverbs in the next
several Hints of the Day.