This article will help you with FCE, CAE, IELTS and TOEFL.
Your essay has a good basic structure with 3 arguments supporting your opinion. How do you fill the paragraphs with more sentences? You want to use connectors to add information. Consider again the typical question:
“Should people use more public transport instead of private cars?”
In your answer, your first point could be that public transport is more environmentally friendly, but you want to make the point more interesting with extra information and an example, perhaps from your personal experience. So, your first paragraph could be:
“I believe that people should use public transport more often.
Firstly, public transport is better for the environment. If more of us take a train, the CO2 emissions per person will be lower than if each of us drives separately. IN ADDITION, congestion will be lower because of fewer cars on the road. FOR EXAMPLE, ambulances will be able to drive faster to take patients to hospitals in emergencies.”
Using “in addition” and “for example”, we have crated a full paragraph from a single sentence. Now, the first paragraph has 60 words. Not bad!
What other connectors can we use when we want to add extra information and examples? Let us look at some alternatives.
To add information:
Also,
In addition,
Furthermore,
Moreover,
What is more,
To give examples:
For example,
For instance,
In my case,
In my experience,
Knowing a few alternatives means that you don’t have to repeat the same connectors in each paragraph. You can vary the connectors you use, showing a good range of vocabulary and making your essay more interesting. Also, these alternatives can come up in the Use of English section of the exam, so you can get that extra point in grammar, too!
