A practical english grammar - Vyssaja skola 1978
Sentence, connectors
Sound symbols
These are words and phrases used to show some relationship between a sentence and a previous one. These devices are more formal than the ones just discussed, and are used in connected discourse.
The distinction between a single sentence consisting of several connected units, and separate sentences related to each other by specialized connecting words, can not always be sharply drawn. Sometimes the connection between sentences is shown without any connecting words at all, but merely by position:
I’m tired. I’m going to bed.
The use of sentence connectors can be studied from these examples.
We had to wait a long time for the bus. In the meanwhile, we discussed our plans for the evening. (These ideas might have been expressed as a single sentence: While we waited for the bus we discussed our plans for the evening.)
The maid didn’t water the plants. As a result, they died.
She washed the sheets. Then she hung them out to dry.
We played tennis. After that, we had lunch.
Peter doesn’t really like to work. Nevertheless, when he accepts a job, he does it well.
Some other sentence connectors are these:
however
furthermore
on the other hand
in addition
besides
moreover
The proper use of these connecting expressions makes paragraphs out of isolated sentences and makes a series of sentences interesting to read. A good speaker or writer takes advantage of all of the resources the language offers him in order to express his ideas clearly and in an interesting way.