123 joiners for starting sentences. Keep your reader reading in any situation!

May 16, 2023 • Glenn Murray

I’ve always been a big fan of using joiners to start sentences in copywriting. They’re one of the most important tools in the copywriter’s toolkit. Just as important as using short sentences, simple words and a conversational style.

What are joiners? Technically, they’re known as ‘transitional devices’. And most are ‘conjunctive adverbs’.

Don’t know what that means? Don’t worry; I don’t really either! I struggle to remember grammar labels. It’s just a fancy way of saying they’re words or phrases that link one sentence to the next (or one idea to the next, or one paragraph to the next). They keep the reader reading because they minimise abrupt stops and starts.

I harp on about joiners all the time. When I’m training copywriters, when I’m reviewing freelancer copy and even when I’m blogging (as I did here and here).

In fact, I talk about them so much that a good friend and copywriter colleague, Zoe Heard, from Get Heard, compiled a list of all the joiners she’s ever heard me talk about or write about, and then posted it in a Slack group we both frequent.

Her list – called ‘Glenn’s favourite joiners’ – contains 123 examples, sourced from my website, blog posts, published portfolio samples, emails, chat messages and, of course, my reviews of her work, years ago, when she was just starting out.

To be honest, I didn’t even know I knew that many, and seeing them all together was pretty impressive, even if I do say so myself. So I asked her if I could share her list on my blog.

I’m not a grammarian, and I’m pretty sure there are words and phrases in this list that aren’t conjunctive adverbs. And some that may not even be technically considered transitional devices. But in the right context, they definitely all smooth the transition from one sentence or paragraph to another. So I included them anyway.

Note also that I started categorising this list (e.g. ‘Conclude or summarise’, ‘Prove or assert’), but I quickly discovered that many of my joiners fall into more than one category, so I abandoned that idea.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s the list…

1. And
2. So
3. But
4. Yet
5. Still
6. Although
7. That said
8. Having said that
9. However
10. Further
11. Furthermore
12. Moreover
13. For
14. Because
15. For the same reason
16. By the same logic
17. In fact
18. Indeed
19. Of course
20. Obviously
21. Naturally
22. Surprisingly
23. Unquestionably
24. Without a doubt
25. Doubtless
26. This means
27. Evidently
28. Besides
29. Besides which
30. Since
31. Notwithstanding this
32. Nonetheless
33. Nevertheless
34. Contrary to
35. To the contrary
36. Even so
37. In spite of this
38. Despite this
39. Nor
40. Next
41. In any case
42. For example
43. Take, for example
44. Again
45. Then again
46. And then
47. Firstly
48. Secondly
49. Finally
50. Additionally
51. In addition
52. For instance
53. Immediately after
54. Hot on the heels of this
55. Later
56. Last, but not least
57. To summarise
58. Put simply
59. That is
60. In other words
61. By comparison
62. In comparison
63. Compared to
64. In contrast
65. Conversely
66. Meanwhile
67. On the other hand
68. On the flip side
69. On the whole
70. In conclusion
71. To conclude
72. Whereas
73. That’s why
74. Therefore
75. Thus
76. After all
77. By contrast
78. Certainly
79. Equally
80. Equally as important
81. And finally
82. And of course
83. For the record
84. Accordingly
85. So much so that
86. To demonstrate
87. To illustrate
88. As a result
89. As a consequence
90. Consequently
91. Just as importantly
92. The list goes on and on!
93. More importantly
94. Perhaps most importantly
95. No matter what
96. Regardless
97. Whether or not
98. What’s more
99. Likewise
100. Not surprisingly
101. Unsurprisingly
102. First and foremost
103. By the same token
104. As it turns out
105. At first glance
106. At the same time
107. Even more importantly
108. Not to mention
109. Specifically
110. To begin with
111. Last, but certainly not least
112. It all comes down to
113. The important thing to remember is that
114. And rest assured
115. Rest assured
116. The result?
117. In reality
118. Which means that
119. Incidentally
120. Interestingly
121. Unless, of course
122. And that’s just the start
123. That’s right

Got any more good ones?

Please comment below. We’d love to hear them!