Episode 42
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I'm Georgiana, founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help YOU to speak English fluently and confidently.
Today, I'll talk about the connectors, those words that help us to better structure what we say.
Next, of course, we'll practice with an exclusive lesson from the point of view story.
I'll just go ahead and start talking about connectors. But don't worry, I'm not gonna give any grammatical theory here 🙂 As usual, I'll give you some examples, and then you'll practice the connectors in context with the point of view story.
Connectors are merely words that help structure what you say or write.
Only by using a few connectors you can significantly improve your fluency and expressivity.
Let's take a look at some of the best-known connectors:
When we want to add something, we use words like BESIDES, ALSO, and MOREOVER.
For example:
"I don't want to go to the movies. Besides, it's late now."
"I want a cake and an ice cream also."
"He didn't like the birthday party. Moreover, he had to cancel his romantic date."
When we express a cause, we use words like SINCE and BECAUSE.
For example:
"Since you don't want to go to the movies with me, I'll go with my friends."
"I want a hotdog and a pizza because I'm hungry."
When we express a condition, we use words like IF and WHENEVER.
For example:
"If you don't want to go to the beach with me, I'll go with my friends."
"Whenever I see an ice-cream, I wanna eat it."
When we express a consequence, we use SO THEN and THEREFORE.
For example:
"You've always told me that you don't like Chinese food, so then, why are you booking a table at a Chinese restaurant?"
"I'm very thirsty; therefore, I'll have a beer."
When we express opposition, we can use words like BUT, NEVERTHELESS, THOUGH, YET, or HOWEVER.
Examples:
"We can go to the movies, but I don't wanna be late."
"My salary is low; nevertheless, I find the work gratifying."
"I'm on a diet, though, I want to eat a chocolate cake."
"You promised to finish the report on time, yet I'm still waiting for it."
"We didn't really need the money; however, it seemed like a phenomenal business idea."
When we express order, we use FIRST OF ALL, FIRSTLY, THEN, or FINALLY.
Examples:
"First of all, we'll go to the movies, then we'll have a drink, and finally, we'll get back home."
"Firstly, I'm not gonna tolerate this kind of behavior anymore, and secondly…. you're fired!"
There are many more connectors, and you can find them on several websites. However, I believe it's essential that you master the most common connectors and use them little by little.
Want more speaking practice? Continue with a complete audio course.
GRAMMAR MADE EASY
POV Story: Grammar in Context
Read the same story in two different points of view and notice how the grammar changes naturally.
Singular · First Person
"Good morning! Pay attention to what I'm about to say: First of all, I have an important complaint about the hotel service. I tried to get into my room yesterday; however, the door was locked. Then I thought I'd go back to the front desk, yet just before I left, the door opened, and a man showed up wearing my hotel towel and slippers. Since I'm polite, I asked him nicely what he was doing in my room. The man seemed very angry and said something in a language I couldn't understand. Whenever someone doesn't understand my language, I speak to them in English. So, I told him that unless he wanted me to call the police, he had to leave immediately. He didn't seem to understand me either, though. I was losing my patience because I didn't understand what a stranger was doing in my room. Besides, I was tired and wanted to sleep. So, I decided to go back to the reception; however, it was midnight, and there was no one there. Therefore, I thought I'd sleep on the couch and then talk to you early in the morning. Finally, I'd like to file a complaint against your hotel."
"But sir, your room is 303, but you tried to access room 302!"
Plural · First Person
"Good morning! Pay attention to what we're about to say: First of all, we have an important complaint about the hotel service. Yesterday we tried to get into our room; however, the door was locked. Then we thought about going back to the reception, yet just before we left, the door opened, and a couple came along with our hotel towels and slippers. Since we're polite, we asked them nicely what they were doing in our room. The couple seemed very angry and told us something in a language we couldn't understand. Whenever someone doesn't understand our language, we speak to them in English. So, we told them that unless they wanted us to call the police, they had to leave immediately. But they didn't seem to understand us either. We were losing our patience because we didn't understand what they were doing in our room. Besides, we were tired, and we wanted to sleep. So, we decided to go back to the reception; however, it was midnight, and there was no one there. Therefore, we thought we'd sleep on the couch and then talk to you early in the morning. Finally, we'd like to file a complaint against your hotel."
"Sir and ma'am...your room is 303, but you tried to access room 302!"
Third Person · Past Tense
Some days ago, a woman came to complain about the hotel service. First of all, she had an important complaint about the hotel service. She said that she tried to get into her room yesterday; however, the door was locked. Then she thought she'd go back to the front desk, yet just before she left, the door opened, and a man showed up wearing her hotel towel and slippers. Since she was polite, she asked him nicely what he was doing in her room. The man seemed very angry and said something in a language she couldn't understand. The woman also mentioned that whenever someone doesn't understand her language, she speaks to them in English. And she told the man in her room that unless he wanted her to call the police, he had to leave immediately. The man didn't seem to understand her either, though. The woman was losing her patience because she didn't understand what a stranger was doing in her room. Besides, she was tired and wanted to sleep. So, she decided to go back to the reception; however, it was midnight, and there was no one there. Therefore, she thought she'd sleep on the couch and then talk to us early in the morning. Finally, she said that she'd like to file a complaint against our hotel.
However, we had to inform her that there had been a mix-up. Moreover, she was the one who tried to access room 302, instead of room 303.
After repeating the story from different points of view, I'm sure it's even clearer now how to use the connectors. And don't worry, always take your time and listen to the story as many times as you need.
Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you in the next episode.
Review
Vocabulary
Review the most useful words and expressions before listening again.
connector
a word that links ideas in speech or writing.
therefore
used to introduce a result.
besides
used to add another reason or point.
nevertheless
used to show contrast despite what was said.
moreover
used to add important information.
whenever
every time that something happens.
since
used to introduce a reason.
finally
used to introduce the last point or action.
Want more speaking practice? Continue with a complete audio course.
Hello! Sorry, but I think in the audio the word -either- is being mispronouced.
Hi Bianca. Please use a proper dictionary like this one and listen to the two pronunciations, I usually use the American version http://www.dictionary.com/browse/either?s=t
Thanks Georgiana
I like the clear Pronounction.
Thank you teacher.l Georgeana for helping us so much. I love this lesson
Hi, Jonathan! I’m happy that you’re enjoying the lesson!
Yeah I enjoy each single lesson that you make! I follow your videos on YouTube for a while. I love your explanations, your speaking, it is so clear And I can easily learn from your pronunciation. May God Bless you.
Hola Georgiana, muy agradecido con usted por permitirme sus podcast, pues hasta hora he mejorado bastante mi oído y lectura del ingles. El curso encantado lo ve muy interesante, pero al igual que el anterior no dispongo de recursos para adquirirlo; la realidad venezolana cada día es mas trágica y dramática. Gracias por su ayuda. Continúe tan bien como va. Éxitos éxitos éxitos…..Dios la bendiga, y le mantenga esa capacidad de ayudar con tanta facilidad a que otros podamos aprender ingles, entre otros idiomas que nos gustaría aprender.
Hola, Georgiana. Gracias por la ayuda que me brindo con sus podcast, de verdad me ayudaron mucho a mejorar mi oído y mi lectura de ingles. El curso encantado se ve excelente, pero al igual que la vez anterior no dispongo de recursos para adquirir el curso, pues en Venezuela la situación cada vez es mas severa y dramática para quienes aquí vivimos. Dios le bendiga a usted, y le conserve esa capacidad y calidad para enseñar el ingles, entre otros idiomas que nos gustaría aprender y dominar bien. Éxitos, éxitos, éxitos….. Saludos.
Hola Luis. Me alegro de que el podcast te ayude a mejorar tu inglés.
Nice podcast. I like them very much. I love listening to English podcast. Your podcast are the best ever.
Thank you Paul! Have a nice Sunday!
Hi, teacher I have learned with your podcast. In my opinion, It is helpful to listen English audios because my brain to starts in English. Onte other hand, Your podcast are excellents. I have listened almost audios in your web site. Congratulations.
Hi Anthony! It’s great that you’re enjoying my lessons. I will record new episodes after the second week of September. Have a nice day!
Hi Georgiana!! I liked this episode I have learned more than before. Thank you Georgiana!!