Want to improve your writing instantly?
Learn to use some of the essential functional sentences used by native English writers in writing.
Here’s a list of 50 key functional sentence structures which you can use to instantly improve the quality and organization of your writing.
Functional Sentences
You don’t need to learn all the sentences (if you don’t have much time) – pick the sentences you think you can apply most frequently to your writing tasks, for presenting arguments, opinions, contradicting, etc.
Then, practice using these essential sentence structures and see the quality of your writing increase quickly.
Use them to describe data/information in graphs, charts, tables, diagrams and for introducing and organizing opinions, arguments, counter-arguments, conclusions and summarizing in reports.
50 Functional Sentences for Writing
- To introduce an example:
For instance, / For example, / Take the case of / Suppose that / Let us say for example that … - To present a general trend:
Generally speaking, / In general, we can see that … / Overall it seems clear that … / The data indicates that … - To emphasize a point:
Indeed, / In fact, / Of course, … / Certainly, … / As a matter of fact … - To introduce an opposite idea:
However, / Nevertheless, / On the contrary,… - To present a contrasting idea:
In contrast to… / While it is true that … on the other hand… - To introduce a different perspective:
Another way of looking at this is to say that …/ Some people might see it differently, but… - To reach a conclusion:
In conclusion, / Finally, to sum up,…/ All things considered,… - To present an exception:
Except for…/ With the exception of … - To introduce a specific example:
For example, / For instance, / Such as, … - To introduce general information:
Generally speaking, …/ In general,... - To introduce statistics or other data:
According to the latest figures, …/ The data shows that … - To introduce a quotation:
As (someone) once said, “…”/ According to (someone), “…” - To make a contrast:
Whereas …/ On the one hand, …/ On the other hand,… - To introduce an opposite point of view:
Some people might say that …/ It could be argued that … - To introduce a hypothetical situation:
If … / Suppose that… / Imagine that… - To express an opinion:
I feel that… / In my opinion, … / I am convinced that… / It seems to me that … - To show similarities or differences:
Similarly, … / In the same way, … / Likewise,… Conversely,… / On the contrary, … Unlikely as it may seem, ... / Nevertheless, ... Despite the fact that ... / Even though ... - To make a conclusion:
All in all, … / On balance, … / Overall, … / In conclusion, … / Finally, …/ To sum up, …/ In short, … - To introduce an example:
For instance,… / For example,…/ Such as… - To state a fact or give statistics:
As (someone) has pointed out, “…” According to the latest figures from (somewhere), “…” Approximately/Nearly … million people worldwide suffer from (something). It is estimated that … A recent study indicates that... - To introduce a contrast:
Whereas, … / On the one hand ..., on the other hand ... / Compared with ... / In contrast to ... / While it is true that ..., it would be wrong to claim that... - To make a concession:
Of course, … (I agree that…) Granted that… / True, … But even so, …/ Nevertheless, … / Still, … - To express doubt or uncertainty:
It’s hard to say. I’m not sure. I don’t know. Maybe. Perhaps. I guess. It could be argued that... - To give an opinion:
In my opinion, … / From my point of view, … / I believe that… / I think that… / In my view, … - To show cause and effect:
As a result of... / Because of the (high) level of (unemployment/immigration), … has been experiencing... Due to… / Owing to… Following on from… - To give examples:
For example, … For instance, … Such as, … E.g., ... I.e., ... - To express purpose:
In order to do something, we need to... The purpose of this essay is to examine the causes of... We use X in order to achieve Y. - To reformulate what has already been said:
In other words, … That is to say, … I.e., ... - To express certainty:
(Certainty) definitely/ clearly/ obviously… (Certainty) undoubtedly… - To express possibility:
(Level 1) perhaps/ maybe/ might (Level 2) could be potentially… / There is a chance that... (Level 3) it is highly likely that… - To summarise:
To conclude, … In summary, … All in all, … Overall, … Finally, … Consequently, ... Hence, ... So ... Then ... Thus ... Therefore... - To give an example:
For instance, … For example, … E.g., ... - To express contrast:
However, … Nevertheless, … On the other hand, … By contrast, ... Whereas ... but ... yet ... still... - To introduce a list of points:
First(ly), Secondly, Thirdly, Finally, In conclusion,... Another/An additional point to consider is... The main/key/primary point(s) to bear in mind is/are... Some other important points to remember are... - To add extra information:
Moreover, … Furthermore, … In addition (to this),… Besides (this),… Not to mention the fact that… It should also be pointed out that… - To show cause and effect:
As (a result of this), … Because of this, … Due to the fact that… Seeing/Since that… The reason/explanation for this is because... This led to... Consequently... - To make a summary:
All in all, … In brief, … In conclusion, … In other words, ... In short, ... On the whole, ... Summing up, .... Simply put,... - For introducing a quotation:
According to Smith “….” OR He states “…” OR it says in the text “….” As far as I know,... I have been told that,... I read somewhere that,... It is said in the news that,... - For giving an example:
For instance, … For example,… Namely, … That is to say, ... In other words,... Such as... - To give a consequence:
As a result of this,... Therefore,... Subsequently,... Then,... Hence,... Consequently,... - To express cause and effect:
Because… Due to,... As, ... Seeing that,... Given that,... In view of,... Provided (that),... Considering (that),... - To make a contrast:
Although, … Even though, … In spite of, ... Notwithstanding the fact that,... While it is true that,... On the contrary,... On the other hand,... Unlike... - For introducing an opposite opinion:
However,... Nevertheless,... Still,... Though/Even though,... Yet/Even so, ... notwithstanding the fact that... - For giving conditions or restrictions:
If… provided (that) … assuming (that) … given that … on condition (that)… Unless… - For making a general statement:
In general, ... Generally speaking,... As a rule, In general, Generally, .... By and large,... On the whole,... In brief/In short,... In sum/To sum up/In conclusion,... In short,... In summary,... Finally,... - For listing points:
First (of all),... Secondly,... Thirdly,... Next,... Then,... Finally,... Moreover, ... Besides, ... In addition (to this), ... Furthermore, ... What is more... - For giving examples:
For instance, … for example, … such as… Take the case of … Suppose that … Imagine that… - For referring to time:
Nowadays,... Lately,... Recently,... Immediately,... Soon,... Later,... Afterward, ... Eventually, ... At last, ... In the end, ... Soon after that/After a while,... Eventually, in the meantime,... - For referring to space:
Nearby,... In the distance,... Beyond,... Underneath,... On top of … Inside … Outside… Above … Below … - For expressing cause and effect:
Because of / due to / owing to / thanks to / as a result of / on account of, ... Consequently/As a consequence/Therefore/Thus/Hence/So, ... Otherwise, ....