Best IELTS Writing Expressions

depositphotos_7932028-Quill-pen-and-ink-well-with-paper-scrollOne of the criteria the Examiner assesses your writing on in the IELTS Writing Test is Coherence and Cohesion; that is the devices you use to put your writing together to make it flow as a piece of writing.

One of the ‘devices’ you can employ to improve your coherence and cohesion in your essays is to use certain key words and expressions.  These key words and expressions, known as discourse markers, help show the direction of the argument and shape your writing.

In this post, I have given you a list of expressions you can use for different purposes in your IELTS Writing.  These expressions, used correctly, help add variety and interest to your writing.

So how do I recommend you use these expressions?  I suggest you write out the words from each group in a sentence so that you know how to use them in context use a good English-English dictionary / grammar book to help you with this)

Once you have a list of the words in context, I suggest you learn to use three / four expressions from each group.  There is no need to use all of the expressions; you only have to know a few for each purpose so that they come to mind easily during the test.

 

Key Words and Expressions for IELTS Writing.

 

Stating Your Opinion

In my opinion,

I think

In my view,

I believe

From my point of view,

It seems to me that

I suppose

From my perspective

I understand

It appears that

I feel

To my way of thinking

I imagine

 

Giving Examples

For example,

For instance,

such as

In other words,

as

like

that is

namely

To illustrate

 

Comparing

Similar to

As…as

also

Either…or

In the same way,

Neither…nor

At the same time

Just as

 

Contrasting

However,

But

On the contrary,

On the other hand,

Nevertheless

Although

Though

Otherwise

Instead

Alternatively,

Even though

 

Generalising

Generally,

Generally speaking,

Overall,

On the whole,

In general,

All in all,

Basically,

Essentially,

As a rule,

All things considered

 

Expressing Certainty

Certainly,

Undoubtedly,

Doubtless,

No doubt,

Definitely,

Of course,

 

Expressing Partial Agreement

More or less,

To some extent,

Up to a point,

Almost,

In a way,

So to speak,

Showing cause (the reason why something happens)

Due to

Because

Because of

Owing to

 

Showing effect (the result of a situation)

Therefore,

As a result,

Consequently,

For this reason,

Thus,

So,

Hence,

The reason why

 

Marking time and the sequence of events

First,

Second,

Third,

Firstly,

Secondly,

Thirdly,

During

To begin with

Simultaneously

Since

Afterwards

When

Last

Lastly,

Then,

First of all,

Before

After

While

At the same time

After this / that

Meanwhile

Following this

As soon as

 

Adding Information

Furthermore

In addition

Also

And

Moreover

Similarly

Likewise

As well as

Besides

What’s more

Expressing condition

If

In case

Provided that

Whether

Unless

So that

 

Concluding

To summarise

To sum up

In conclusion

Lastly,

Finally,

To conclude with,

In short,

 

Becoming familiar with how to use some of these expressions in context will help improve your IELTS Writing.

Here’s to the best IELTS score possible!

2 thoughts on “Best IELTS Writing Expressions

  1. I have learnt too much about the basic helping words of expression for the writing essay.i would like to request you,please send me more tips for writing essay.thanks

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