Types of transitions

<aside> 💡 Transitions are words or phrases that begin a sentence that connect the idea of the current sentence with an idea from a prior sentence. For those who have class with me, @Benjamin L. Stewart, I suggest avoiding any transitions to begin a body paragraph.

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Where might I use transitions?

Reason 1: Consider transitions when you want to connect certain ideas from a prior sentence (usually within the same paragraph) with the current sentence. In this case, transitions will occur at the beginning of the sentence and usually include a comma (i.e., transitions less than five words do not require a comma).

• Because baseball requires a lot of practice, I simply am not able to dedicate enough time to it if I want to be good.
• Because of my lack of availability, I simply am not able to play baseball this season.
• To be good a baseball, I will need to spend a lot of time practicing, which I simply do not have.
• Having no time this season to practice, I simply cannot sign up for the summer league this year due to my prior commitments.

Reason 2: Transitions may also be used to connect two independent (main) clauses within the same sentence.

• I enjoy baseball; however [sentence connector], it requires a lot of practice that I simply do not have right now.

• Infinitive phrases

• Participial phrases

• Prepositional phrases

• Sentence connectors by category

How might I use transitions to begin a thesis statement?

Consider reason 1 and any of the types of transitions listed except for the sentence connector. The reason for avoiding a sentence connector is because the other four options allow the writer to better reference the context of the problem, background information, or historical context often included in an Introduction Paragraph.