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Writing a good sentence can be hard, and when you have to string a whole lot of
In this post, we are going to think about how you start your sentences
It is what gets your audience into the topic and sets the whole stage
Because of this, it is important to get your readers hooked early
Because it is designed to pull the reader in and surprise them a little, it is often
“The world is bleeding and humans wield the knife,” or so says environmental scientist So Andso
Except for example 1, which is true, I just made all of these up to demonstrate my point
Once you jump right in with your hook, it is time to start working on ways to
You’ll do this with a few sentences setting up the stage for your topic and the
Many of the tips I am about to discuss can be used anywhere in a paper, but
Let’s start with one of the most important types of sentence starter in essay writing: transition
If you want to start writing terrific sentences (and improve your essay structure), the first thing you
They move one sentence or paragraph into another, and they make things feel less abrupt
Before we get into examples of what a good transition word is, let’s look at a
It was painful to write, and I am sure it is even worse to read
In an essay, you need to show how each of your ideas relate to each other to
Roughly 25% of your sentences should start with a transition word
Of course, hitting that number isn’t enough—those transitions need to be meaningful
Let’s look at the different types of transitions and how you can use them
For example, if you start a paragraph with firstly, you’ve used a transition word
These words show different types of relationships between ideas
Examples from my above list include clearly, particularly, and indeed
Want to see some more? Follow my bolded transitions: Undoubtedly, you understand now
Here are some more: Not only are you going to be great at transitions after this, but
This is the opposite of addition, and you use it when you want to show an alternative
Here are some more: Unlike people who haven’t read this article, you are going to be
This set of transitions helps mark the passage of time or gives an order to events
Now for some extras: At this time yesterday, you were worried about starting sentences
However, notice what a difference just adding transitions makes
If you want to check your transition usage, try ProWritingAid’s Transitions report
You’ll see how many of each type of transition word you've used so you can pin-point
As well as individual words, you can also use short phrases at the beginning of your sentences
See how they all end with a comma? That's because they need you to add more information
However, if we take away the first part of each sentence, we lose our connection to the
These phrases are called dependent clauses: they depend on you adding another statement to the sentence to
When you use a sentence starter phrase like the ones above in your writing, you signal that
Since it is not wrong to use one on even short ones (depending on the style guide
Keep your sentences sharp and poignant by mixing up word choices to start your sentences
You might start your sentence with a great word, but then you use that same word 17 sentences
After the first couple, your sentences don’t sound as great
ProWritingAid lets you know if you’ve used the same word repeatedly at the start of your
If you've used a sentence starter and then repeated it a couple of paragraphs down, the report
Now that you have your introduction sentences and body sentences taken care of, let’s talk a
While you will still use transitions and clauses as in the body, there are some special considerations
Don’t just repeat yourself; tell them what they should do with what you just told them!
If you use the same conclusion sentence starter everyone else is using, your ideas will blend in
Some of the best writing out there is writing that sounds natural
While you won’t use phrases like "at the end of the day" in essay writing, stilted
If you’re looking for more ways to rephrase "in conclusion," take a look at our complete
However, when you start using these tips, you’ll start to see noticeable improvement in your writing
If you’ve ever heard people talk about pacing and flow in academic writing, and you have
These tips will help your writing sound more natural, which is how you help your ideas flow