The Uses of Conjunctive Adverbs to Write Coherently, Especially CSS, PMS Essays

What are conjunctive adverbs? How can they help CSS, PMS aspirants build coherence and flow in writing essays, which is required in competitive exams? How can we use conjunctive adverbs to write emphatically and fluently? These are some questions that thousands of aspirants keep asking me during the orientation sessions. This article will answer these questions in detail and provide the senses of conjunctive adverbs, including examples and a comprehensive list of them. 

In examinations, especially in CSS and PMS, hundreds of thousands of aspirants do not build a relationship between their sentences, thus, lack coherence; that ultimately results in their essays and precis papers failure. However, to connect ideas of equal importance or value, we use conjunctive adverbs that I have already taught you in lectures and told you how to write the ideas or clauses of equal importance. Whenever we want to join two ideas showing a strong relationship, we use conjunctive adverbs instead of FANBOYS. Both the conjunctive adverbs and coordinating conjunctions have a distinct role to play when it comes to creating a compound sentence. So, revise the sentence structuring lecture in detail from sentence elements to sentence varieties, along with this article. Let’s start with the definition, examples of a conjunctive adverb, and example sentences.

What is a conjunctive adverb? 

Normally, we use coordinating conjunctions to join two or more independent clauses (also called simple sentences) to write a compound sentence. They let our readers and examiners know what we are saying and communicating. However, coordinating conjunctions do not help us emphasize or build a considerable relationship between the first and the second independent clause in some compound sentences. Therefore, we use conjunctive adverbs to emphasize ideas, build a relationship between clauses, and shorten sentences to write them briefly.

If an adverb is used to join two independent clauses, we call it a conjunctive adverb. The essential point that our competitive aspirant must know is conjunctive adverbs are different from typical adverbs. Typical adverbs only modify verbs, adjectives, adverbs, or prepositions; contrarily, conjunctive adverbs connect independent clauses. Thus, we cannot use typical adverbs as conjunctive adverbs.

Examples of conjunctive adverbs 

There are many conjunctive adverbs; however, the most commonly used ones are given hereunder. 

First, Second, Third (etc.)*, For example, For instance, Formerly, In all, In a word, In summary, Later, Lastly, Momentarily, Namely, Next, For sure, Of course, Previously, Simultaneously, That is, Accordingly, Additionally, Again, Almost, Anyway, As a result, Afterward, Also, In addition, Besides, Certainly, Comparatively, Consequently, Contrarily, Conversely, Earlier, Elsewhere, Equally, Eventually, Finally, Further, First, For example, Fortunately, Furthermore, Hence, Henceforth, However, In fact, In conclusion, Indeed, Later, Likewise, Moreover, Nevertheless, Nonetheless, Next, On the other hand, Otherwise, Still, In contrast, Then, Rather, Now, Namely, Meanwhile, Similarly, Subsequently, Thus, Third, Unfortunately, etc. 

Although there are hundreds of conjunctive adverbs that exist in the English language, the list of conjunctive adverbs I have written above is those that you can use in your CSS, PMS essays and articles. As a matter of fact, you can also create a list of conjunctive adverbs that suit your needs.  

How can we punctuate a compound sentence having conjunctive adverbs?

Unlike a simple compound sentence made up of coordinating conjunctions – For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and So – a sentence made up of a conjunctive adverb requires a different punctuation technique. When a conjunctive adverb connects two independent clauses, it always takes a Semicolon before it and a Comma after it. 

Independent Clause + ; + Conj. Adv. + , + Independent Clause

For practical examples of conjunctive adverbs, read the top 30 solved questions of CSS, PMS past papers.

Examples: 

In the following examples, conjunctive adverbs are bold and underlined. 

• Khizer did not prepare for the CSS examination; subsequently, he regretted his decision. 
• She refused to apply for the engineering job; indeed, she said it was not suitable to her innate abilities. 
• It would be best to start your studies now; otherwise, you might get a bad grade. 
• My brother stood first in his class; therefore, I gifted him a watch. 
• I missed my final term papers; consequently, I failed to appear in the viva. 
• I wanted to go shopping; however, my wife wanted to visit her mother. 
• Alia was very determined to get a position; nevertheless, she didn’t pass. 
• The weather was intensely hot; consequently, the supporters didn’t come out of their homes.  
• The authority forecasted a tornado; hence, we gave up our picnic plan. 
• Your article was grammatically correct; moreover, you explained all points explicitly. 
• Fiza loves driving the car; likewise, her brother enjoys it.
• Ali ordered pizza from the market; also, he ordered some drinks with it. 
• In Murree, the hotels are fully occupied for June; in the same way, they were occupied the last December. 
• Poverty is the root cause of all social evils; in the same manner, obesity is the root cause of all diseases. 
• Haris loves singing; by comparison, his sister hates it. 
• You should study hard to qualify for the written test; equally, you should polish your communication skills for the interview test. 
• Amna is reading the novel; next, she will sleep.
• Amir’s writing style is very expressive; similarly, his reading skills are also good.
• My cousin was late to the ceremony; similarly, I took more time to get there than our families expected. 
• Hammad is preparing himself for the Central Superior Services (CSS) examination; too, he had qualified Provincial Management Services (PMS) examination.
• Our company only has Apple computers; however, some employees are more familiar with PCs. 
• There was little chance of success; nevertheless, they decided to launch the project. 
• He is poor; still, he leads a happy life. 
• Zain has a black backpack; in contrast, his sister has a white one.
• I absolutely love painting; on the other hand, my brother hates it.
• Hamna would have liked to stay at home all day; instead, she got up and went to university.
• The new idea is not so cool; even so, it is much better than the old one.
• Maybe Fareeha did not study very hard; otherwise, she would have qualified for the CSS exam.
• Faheem had a job interview last Wednesday; unfortunately, he did not get the job.
• His intention was not to hurt his audience; rather, it was to teach them with real-life examples.
• The tour was really disappointing – a complete disaster; in fact, it just rained all the time.
• One per cent increase in population degrades GDP by almost 0.35 per cent; for example, the food crisis is caused due to overpopulation and other factors affecting economic development in many aspects.
• She wished to take the matter to the administration; further, she filed charges against her friends.
• They are bad people; furthermore, they also cheat and deceive their friends.

We have noticed that contextualizing and connecting ideas requires conjunctive adverbs. And with the help of them, we can write fluently and emphatically.   

More about conjunctive adverbs

Conjunctive adverbs show many types of relationships, such as showing contrast, comparison, sequence of events, cause and effect, addition, or summarizing a point of view. Modern writers and competitive aspirants usually use conjunctive adverbs to make their write-ups more attention grabber and emphatic. Unlike tone adverbs, opinion adverbs, and transition adverbials, conjunctive adverbs are another type of adverb. A carefully chosen conjunctive adverb shows an accurate relationship between the two independent clauses and helps readers and the examiner understand our opinion or viewpoint about the clauses. I have categorized conjunctive adverbs categorically hereunder.

List of Conjunctive adverbs used to add more information “Addition”:

1. Further
2. Furthermore
3. Moreover
4. In addition
5. In the same way
6. Likewise
7. Too
8. Similarly
9. First
10. Second
11. Additionally
12. Next
13. Also
14. Again
15. Accordingly
16. Besides

List of Conjunctive adverbs used to express “Comparison”:

1. Likewise
2. Similarly
3. Also
4. In the same way
5. In the same manner
6. By comparison
7. Equally
8. Next
9. Similarly
10. Too

List of Conjunctive adverbs used to express “Contrast or Opposition”:

1. However
2. In contrast
3. In comparison
4. Instead
5. Nevertheless
6. Still
7. In spite of that
8. Instead
9. At any rate
10. Otherwise
11. Unfortunately
12. On the contrary
13. On the other hand
14. In spite of
15. Rather

List of Conjunctive adverbs used to give “Examples”:

1. After all
2. As an illustration
3. For example
4. For instance
5. Indeed
6. In fact
7. In other words
8. In particular
9. In truth
10. That is
11. Specifically
12. To illustrate

List of Conjunctive adverbs used to show “Relationship”:

1. In front of
2. Near the end
3. Next to
4. To the left
5. To the right
6. Up front

List of Conjunctive adverbs used to express “Time”:

1. Next
2. At last
3. Earlier
4. Later on
5. Simultaneously
6. Until now
7. Afterward
8. At the same time
9. Finally
10. First
11. Second
12. Third (… and so on)
13. Furthermore
14. In the meantime
15. Later
16. Meanwhile
17. Then
18. Subsequently
19. Lately
20. Now

List of Conjunctive adverbs used to express “Illustration”:

1. For instance
2. For example
3. In fact
4. Namely

List of Conjunctive adverbs used to express “Summarize or Conclude”:

1. In conclusion
2. As a consequence
3. Briefly
4. As a result
5. Accordingly
6. Consequently
7. For this reason
8. Hence
9. In a word
10. In brief
11. In short
12. Therefore
13. Thus
14. To conclude
15. To summarize
16. In summary
17. All in all
18. Finally
19. In short

List of Conjunctive adverbs used to express “Reason, Cause, or Effect”:

1. As a result
2. Consequently
3. Hence
4. Then
5. Thus
6. Therefore

List of Conjunctive adverbs used to express “Emphasis”:

1. Certainly
2. Indeed
3. In fact
4. To be sure
5. Of course
6. Further

List of Conjunctive adverbs used to express “Concession”:

1. Admittedly
2. However
3. Nevertheless
4. Of course
5. Still