CONNECTORS / LINKERS

INTRODUCING CONTRASTING OR OPPOSING IDEAS

Llamamos conectores a los términos que empleamos para señalar las relaciones entre ideas.

A   Los conectores BUT y YET tienen el mismo sentido, indican contraste y van seguidos de una oración nominal (le falta el verbo) o una oración completa.

                - The book is short but / yet interesting

                - The book is short but / yet it’s interesting.

B   Los conectores IN SPITE OF y DESPITE tienen el mismo significado. Van seguidos de una oración nominal a menudo incluyendo un gerundio.

                - In spite of / Despite the late hour, they went on with the meeting

                - He arrived on time despite / in spite of getting up late

                - The weather was cold, but they went on the trip in spite of it/ that.

C   Los conectores ALTHOUGH, THOUGH, EVEN THOUGH, IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT tienen el mismo significado “aunque”. Van seguidos por una oración completa y pueden ir al principio o en medio de una frase.

Although/ Though/ Even though/ In spite of the fact that the pupils has not studied as hard as they could, they all passed their exams.

        Si el conector comienza la oración, se debe poner una coma para separar las dos ideas que queremos contrastar.

D    Los conectores HOWEVER, NEVERTHELESS, EVEN SO, ON THE ONE HAND, ON THE OTHER HAND, ON THE CONTRARY van seguidos en primer lugar por una coma y después por una oración completa.

                - She was quite ill. However/ Nevertheless/ Even so, she went to school.

                - On the one hand, the beach is fun. On the other hand, I don’t like the sand.

                - “I thought you liked classical music.” “On the contrary, I hate it.”

E    Los conectores WHILE / WHEREAS tienen el mismo significado y van seguidos por una oración completa.

                - This soap opera is very interesting, while / whereas that one is quite boring.

SHOWING REASON, CAUSE AND PURPOSE

A   Los conectores BECAUSE / AS / SINCE / SEEING THAT tienen todos el mismo significado y van seguidos de una oración completa.

        Indican la razón o causa de algo. Si los conectores comenzaran la frase, la oración principal y la subordinada irían separadas por una coma.

• Because / As / Since / Seeing that it’s late, we should all go home.
• We should all go home because / as / since / seeing that it’s late

B   Los conectores que ponemos a continuación significan “porque, debido a, a causa de”: BECAUSE OF / ON    

     ACCOUNT OF / OWING TO / DUE TO. Van seguidos de una expresión sustantiva. Si son ellos los que comenzaran la

     frase, ambas oraciones irán separadas por coma.

• Because of / On account of/ Due to / Owing to the weather, we stayed at home.
• We stayed at home because of / on account of / owing to / due to the weather.

C    Los conectores IN ORDER TO / SO AS TO y TO expresan propósito. Van seguidos de la raíz del verbo. Por el

      contrario IN ORDER THAT y SO THAT van seguidos de una oración con un verbo modal.

• She uses her video in order to / so as to / to record her favourite shows.
• She uses her video in order that / so that she can have a recording of her videos.

     Si queremos poner en negativa el propósito, podemos usar SO AS NOT TO e IN ORDER NOT TO

• She is studying so as not to fail
• She is studying in order not to fail.

GIVING EXAMPLES AND ADDING INFORMATION

A    Las expresiones FOR EXAMPLE, FOR INSTANCE y SUCH AS pueden emplearse  indistintamente.

• Vegetables are a good source of vitamins; for example / for instance, pepper has vitamin C

•  Singers such as Michael Jackson and Madonna are popular throughout the world.

B    Para añadir más información usaremos MOREOVER, FUTHERMORE, BESIDES e IN ADDITION. Todas ellas

       van seguidas de coma y significan “también, además”.

• I am too busy to take a holiday. Moreover / Furthermore / In addition, I don’t have the money.

    Besides tiene un sentido algo diferente. Casi siempre introduce un argumento más fuerte que el anterior o

    destaca el punto que creemos de mayor importancia (puede ir seguido de oración o de sustantivo)

        - I’m too fat to wear a pair of jeans. Besides, I haven’t got the money to buy them.

        - Who are you bringing to the party besides your boyfriend?

C   IN ADDITION TO y AS WELL AS (además de) se usan para añadir información, pero van seguidos de una  

      expresión sustantiva.

• In addition to classical music, she likes jazz
• The city has several main roads as well as a ring road around it

D  APART FROM y EXCEPT (FOR) se emplean para indicar que algo es una excepción a la idea general  

     expresada en la frase.

• Apart from English, she speaks three other foreign languages.
• He eats nothing except (for) bread and fish.

SHOWING SEQUENCE AND RESULT

A   Usamos una serie de expresiones que indican sucesión de hechos para poner en orden lo que estamos diciendo.

• FIRST OF ALL / TO BEGIN WITH / FIRST / FIRSTLY, we should talk to the manager
• SECOND / SECONDLY / THEN, we must make a detailed plan.
• THE NEXT STAGE is to view ….
• FINALLY / IN SHORT / TO SUM UP / IN CONCLUSION / LASTLY / LAST BUT NOT LEAST, we need to have good ideas before we present our plan to the whole company. ( finalmente, en resumen, en conclusión, por último, por último pero no de menos importancia, …)

B   THEREFORE, AS A RESULT, CONSEQUENTLY, FOR THIS REASON señalan la conexión  entre la acción y su

      resultado. Van seguidos por una oración completa.

• Tina keeps her car in good condition. Therefore / As a result / Consequently / For this reason, it always passes its annual road test...

C   AS A RESULT OF tiene el mismo sentido que los conectores que acabamos de estudiar, pero va seguido de una

      expresión sustantiva, no de una oración.

        -     As a result of his brave action, he was awarded a military medal.