Useful Phrases for Writing Essays

This list is not exhaustive, but has been designed to give you the
basic phrases that you can use to structure your essays coherently.
Do not overuse these phrases, and make sure that your essays have
plenty of interesting and relevant content.
A. General Essay Phrases
Developing the argument
The first aspect to point out is that...
Let us start by considering the facts.
The novel portrays, deals with, revolves around
Central to the novel is
The character of xxx embodies/ epitomizes
The other side of the argument
t would also be interesting to see...
!ne should, nevertheless, consider the problem from another angle.
"#ually relevant to the issue are the #uestions of...
Conclusion
The arguments we have presented... suggest that.../ prove that.../
would indicate that...
$rom these arguments one must.../ could.../ might... conclude that...
%ll of this points to the conclusion that...
To conclude,
Ordering elements
$irstly,.../ &econdly,.../ $inally,... 'note the comma after all these
introductory words.(
%s a final point,
!n the one hand, . on the other hand,
f on the one hand it can be said that... the same is not true for...
The first argument suggests that... whilst the second suggests that...
There are at least xxx points to highlight.
Adding elements
$urthermore, one should not forget that...
n addition to...
)oreover...
t is important to add that
Accepting other points of view
*evertheless, one should accept that...
+owever, we also agree that...
Personal opinion
,e/ personally believe that...
!ur/)y own point of view is that...
t is my contention that
am convinced that
)y own opinion is
Others' opinions
%ccording to some critics...
Critics believe that
say that
suggest that
are convinced that
point out that
emphasise that
contend that
go as far as to say that
argue for this
-
ntroducing e!amples
$or example,
$or instance,
To illustrate this point...
ntroducing facts
t is... true that.../ clear that.../ noticeable that...
!ne should note here that...
"aying what you thin# is true
This leads us to believe that...
t is very possible that...
n view of these facts, it is #uite li.ely that...
Certainty
/oubtless,...
!ne cannot deny that...
t is 'very( clear from these observations that...
Dou$t
%ll the same, it is possible that...
t is difficult to believe that...
Accepting other points to certain degree
!ne can agree up to a certain point with...
Certainly,... +owever,...
t cannot be denied that...
Emphasising particular points
The last example highlights that fact that...
*ot only... but also...
,e would even go so far as to say that...
%oderating& agreeing& disagreeing
0y and large...
1erhaps we should also point out the fact that...
t would be unfair not to mention that fact that...
!ne must admit that...
,e cannot ignore the fact that...
!ne cannot possibly accept the fact that...
Conse'uences
$rom these facts, one may conclude that...
That is why, in our opinion, ...
,hich seems to confirm the idea that...
Thus,.../ Therefore,...
Comparison
&ome critics suggest..., whereas others...
Compared to...
!n the one hand there is the firm belief that... !n the other hand,
many people are convinced that...
B. Phrases For Balanced Arguments
ntroduction
t is often said that...
t is undeniable that...
t is a well2.nown fact that...
!ne of the most stri.ing features of this text is...
Thesis
The first thing that needs to be said is...
$irst of all, let us try to analyse...
!ne argument in support of...
,e must distinguish carefully between...
The second reason for...
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%n important aspect of the text is...
t is worth stating at this point that...
Antithesis
!n the other hand, we can observe that...
The other side of the coin is, however, that...
%nother way of loo.ing at this #uestion is to...
Conclusion
,hat conclusions can be drawn from all this4
The most satisfactory conclusion that we can come to is...
To sum up... we are convinced that.../ ...we believe that.../ ...we
have to accept that...
C. Remarks
(er$s
The #uic.est way to improve your writing is by paying
attention to verbs.
"nglish is a language rich in verbs, so the use of vague verbs or
long verb phrases is unnecessary. &imply converting 5ta.es a
loo. at5 to 5examines,5 5tal.s about in detail5 to 5analyzes,5 etc.
will ma.e a difference in your prose.
,ea. action verbs 'such as do, get, have, go, ma.e, say, etc.(
can often be replaced by stronger ones '5has,5 for example, can
be replaced by words li.e 5displays,5 5exemplifies,5
5demonstrates,5 etc.(.
,ea. action verbs paired with an adverb can usually be treated
similarly '5tal. heatedly,5 for instance, becomes 5argue5(, as
can those paired with a noun '5ma.e an argument5 becomes
5argue,5 5give an explanation5 becomes 5explain,5 etc.(.
%nd as much as possible, ma.e sure your verbs are in the active
voice6 5+e threw the ball5 'active voice( rather than 5The ball
was thrown by him5 'passive voice(. %s you can see, passive
voice is wordier and less direct.
"entence variety
)a.e sure there7s some variety in the length and types of
your sentences. ,or. at occasionally opening a sentence with
something other than the sub8ect. &tudent writers often tend to write
strings of short, simple sentences. This ma.es the paper choppy and
ma.es the ideas sound simpleminded. f choppy sentences are a
problem, combine some of them into longer and more complex
sentences.
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