Follow this format and page layout to write a basic paragraph in American English.

Your name
Course # and title
Professor's name
Date

Title

              Topic sentence                                                                   .  Bridge sentence                                                                .   Transition, supporting example #1   (SP #1)                                                                               .  Specific fact/detail #1 for SP #1                                                                    .  Transition, specific fact/detail #2 for SP #1                                               .  Transition, supporting example #2 (SP #2                                                                                                   .  Specific fact/detail #1 for SP #2                                                                                            .  Specific fact/detail #2 for SP #2                                               .  Transition, concluding sentence                                                                                                                 .

Transitions
see also Techniques of Sentence Combination (Discourse Markers)

Transitions for topic sentences

In general, _______________________________________________________________.
                          (S + V + C)

Generally speaking, ________________________________________________________.

On the whole, ____________________________________________________________.

As a rule, _______________________________________________________________.

usually

basically

always

often

Transitions for supporting examples

For example, ___________________________________________________________.
For instance,                      (S + V + C)
To illustrate,

____________________________________________________________, for example.
                        (S + V + C)                                                                               for instance.

One (an) example of ___________________________________is _________________.
                                            (topic)

As an example, __________________________________________________________.

________________________________________ is an example of _________________.
                                                                                                                (topic)

First, _________________________________________________________________.
Second,
Next,
In addition,
Furthermore,
(to introduce the last supporting example) Finally,
A final example of __________________________________ is ____________________.
                                                      (topic)

Transitions for concluding sentences

In conclusion, __________________________________________________________.
In summary,                                           (S + V + C)
In short,
As we have seen,

© 2006  Christine Bauer-Ramazani, Saint Michael's College. Last updated: July 18, 2008