IELTS Linking Words: What to Use and What to Drop
By Miracle Team ·
Almost every IELTS learner has a list of linking words. Almost none of them needs another one — because the problem is rarely that people know too few connectors. It is that they use too many, in the wrong places, at the start of every sentence.
This article is the opposite of a list. It covers what to drop first, what to keep, and the cohesion devices that do more work than connectors ever will.
The mistake that keeps essays at Band 6
Here is a paragraph of the kind that appears in thousands of practice essays:
❌ Firstly, technology has changed education. Moreover, students can learn online. Furthermore, they can study at any time. In addition, teachers can share materials easily. Therefore, technology is beneficial. Last but not least, it saves money.
Six sentences, six connectors, one at the front of each. The writer has clearly studied linking words. But read it again: the connectors are not describing real relationships. Moreover and Furthermore and In addition all mean the same thing, and none of the sentences actually follows from the one before — they are a list wearing the costume of an argument.
Now the same content, with the relationships made real:
✅ Technology has changed education in two main ways. Students can now study online at any time that suits them, which particularly benefits those in full-time work. Teachers, meanwhile, can share materials instantly, and the resulting saving on printing and distribution is substantial.
One connector (meanwhile), plus a relative clause (which particularly benefits) and a linked noun phrase (the resulting saving). This version is more cohesive with fewer linking words, because the ideas connect through meaning rather than through signposts.
That is the whole point. Cohesion is not a quantity of connectors — it is whether a reader can follow how your ideas relate.
What to drop first
Every connector at the start of every sentence. If three consecutive sentences open with a linking word, delete at least two. Connectors also work mid-sentence, and often read better there: Teachers, meanwhile, can… rather than Meanwhile, teachers can….
“Last but not least.” A fixed phrase from spoken presentations. It is not wrong, but it appears in memorised essays so often that it signals exactly that.
“In a nutshell.” Too informal for Task 2. Use In conclusion or Overall.
“As we all know” / “It is a well-known fact that.” These add no information and cannot be supported. Delete and start with the claim.
“First and foremost.” Overused, and foremost claims an importance you usually then fail to justify. First is enough.
Three different words for “and” in one paragraph. Pick one of moreover, furthermore, in addition and drop the others. They are not variety — they are the same signpost repainted.
What to keep
Connectors earn their place when the relationship is genuinely one the reader could misread. Grouped by the job they do:
| Job | Use | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Contrast | however, nevertheless, whereas, while | Whereas and while join two clauses; however needs its own sentence or a semicolon |
| Adding | moreover, in addition, also | Pick one per paragraph |
| Cause | because, since, as, owing to | Owing to and due to take a noun, not a clause |
| Result | therefore, consequently, as a result, so | So is fine in Speaking, weaker in Task 2 |
| Example | for instance, for example, such as | Such as takes nouns, not clauses |
| Concession | although, despite, even though, admittedly | Despite takes a noun or -ing form, never a clause |
| Sequence | firstly, then, finally | Fine for genuine steps; unnecessary for two reasons |
| Conclusion | in conclusion, overall, on balance | One only, at the end |
Two grammar traps in that table cause more errors than any other:
- Despite / in spite of + noun or -ing. Despite the rain, despite being tired — never despite it was raining. Use although for a clause.
- Due to vs because of. Due to traditionally follows a noun (the delay was due to fog); because of modifies a verb (we left because of the fog). Examiners notice.
The three devices that matter more
Cohesion is largely achieved without connectors. These three do more work than any linking word:
1. Pronouns and reference. This, these, such, the latter. Crucially, in academic writing you should usually write this + noun, not bare this: this policy, this shift, these findings. Bare this forces the reader to guess what you mean, and ambiguous reference is a genuine cohesion fault.
2. Controlled repetition of key terms. Repeating your topic noun is not a weakness — it is how academic prose stays anchored. What you should vary is the surrounding structure, not the key term itself. See paraphrasing for the line between useful variation and thesaurus abuse.
3. Sentences that carry old information forward. End one sentence with an idea and start the next from it: …which has driven up rents. Those rising rents have in turn pushed families further from the centre. No connector needed; the link is in the noun.
Speaking is a different job
Written connectors sound bizarre spoken aloud. Nobody says Furthermore, I would argue that… to a person sitting across a table.
Speaking uses a much smaller and more casual set: and, but, so, because, actually, anyway, the thing is, I mean, to be honest. These sound natural precisely because they are ordinary.
❌ Part 3: “Firstly, technology enhances communication. Moreover, it reduces costs. In conclusion, it is beneficial.”
✅ Part 3: “Well, it makes it much easier to keep in touch — and it’s cheaper too, which matters if your family lives abroad. So yeah, on balance I think it’s a good thing.”
The second answer has connectors (and, which, so), but they are invisible. That is what fluency sounds like.
The rule to leave with
Before you add a connector, ask: would the relationship be clear without it? If yes, leave it out. Cohesion that the reader doesn’t notice is working; cohesion they trip over is not.
This applies to vocabulary generally — the topic lists in IELTS vocabulary by topic are built the same way, around precision rather than display. And once your ideas connect properly, collocations are what make the individual sentences sound native.