Using Transition Words in Spanish

Quick Answer

To sound natural when writing in Spanish, it is important to use conectores(transition words). Transition words link your ideas together, allowing them to flow smoothly from one sentence to the next.

There are many types of transition words you can use when you are writing in Spanish. Let’s take a closer look!

Sequence and Order

The following transition words help us arrange ideas, events, and reasons according to their order of importance or to the order in which they happened chronologically.

al final	in the end
al principio	at/in the beginning or to begin with
antes	before
ante todo	first of all/first and foremost
en primer lugar	firstly/first/in the first place
en segundo lugar	secondly/second/in the second place
en tercer lugar	thirdly/third/in the third place
después	after/afterward
finalmente	finally/lastly
fundamentalmente	principally
lo que es más	more importantly
luego	then
más tarde	later
mientras tanto	meanwhile/in the meantime
para empezar	for one thing
por fin	finally/at last
por último, pero no menos importante	last but not least
principalmente	principally/primarily
sobre todo	above all/most importantly

Let’s put some of these into context!

examples
En primer lugar, el uso excesivo de los antibióticos ha llevado al desarrollo de bacterias resistentes. En segundo lugar, los médicos deberían explorar alternativas naturales. Firstly, the overuse of antibiotics has led to resistant bacteria. Secondly, doctors should explore natural alternatives.
Al principio, mi hermanastro y yo no nos llevábamos bien. In the beginning, my stepbrother and I didn’t get along.

Cause and Effect

Use these transition words to make a connection between cause and effect.

así que	so
consiguientemente	consequently
como resultado	as a result
debido a	due to
en consecuencia	consequently
en la misma medida	correspondingly
en vista de	in view of
por consiguiente	therefore/as a result/accordingly
por esa razón	for that reason
por eso	that’s why/for that reason
por esta razón	for this reason
por lo tanto	therefore/thus/hence

Let’s take a look at some examples!

examples
Debido a la sequía severa, muchos agricultores quebraron. Due to the severe drought, many farmers went under.
Subió la inflación y, como consecuencia, el gasto de los consumidores se redujo. Inflation rose and, as a consequence, consumer spending shrank.

Addition and Agreement

The following transition words add information, express agreement, and reinforce relationships and ideas that came before.

Spanish	English
además	additionally/furthermore/moreover
además de	besides/as well as
aparte de	aside from
así como	as well as
asimismo	also/as well
comparativamente hablando	comparatively speaking
de cualquier manera	be that as it may/anyway
de hecho	as a matter of fact
de igual modo	similarly/likewise
de todos modos	in any case
también	also/as well
sin mencionar	not to mention
sino también	but also

Check out these examples!

examples
Elena no es solo hermosa, sino también muy elegante. Elena is not only beautiful, but also very elegant.
Todos los residentes de Dinamarca cuentan con acceso gratuito a la atención médica. De igual modo, los estudiantes universitarios dinamarqueses no tienen que pagar matrícula. All the residents of Denmark have free access to healthcare. Similarly, Danish university students don't have to pay tuition.

Examples, Emphasis, and Clarification

The following transitions are used to introduce examples as support, emphasize a particular fact, or explain a point.

Spanish	English
a saber	namely
concretamente	to be precise/namely
de hecho	in fact
en otras palabras	in other words
en particular	in particular/especially
es decir	that is
específicamente	specifically
o sea	that is to say
particularmente	particularly/notably
por ejemplo	for example/for instance
tal como	such as

Check out these examples!

examples
El gobierno necesita abordar problemas más graves, concretamente la delincuencia. The government needs to address more serious problems, namely crime.
Pensamos que el testimonio del médico desembocará en la absolución del acusado. En otras palabras, el señor Johnson será un hombre libre. We expect that the doctor's testimony will lead to the acquittal of the defendant. In other words, Mr. Johnson will be a free man.

Contrast

Use these transition words to connect two things by focusing on their differences.

Spanish	English
a diferencia de	unlike
al contrario	on the contrary/quite the opposite
a pesar de eso	despite that
a pesar de esto	in spite of this
aun así	even so
aunque	although
contrariamente	contrarily
de otra manera	otherwise
en cambio	conversely/on the other hand
no obstante	however/nevertheless
por el contrario	on the contrary/in contrast
por otra parte	on the other hand
por otro lado	on the other hand
sin embargo	however/nevertheless

Here are some examples!

examples
Por un lado, no hay mejor compañero que un perro, pero por otro lado, es una gran responsabilidad. On the one hand, there is no better companion than a dog, but on the other hand, it is a huge responsibility.
Hay pocas pruebas científicas que apoyen los beneficios de la acupuntura. Sin embargo, sigue siendo una opción popular para el tratamiento del dolor crónico en el Lejano Oriente. There's little scientific evidence that supports the benefits of acupuncture. Nevertheless, it remains a popular treatment option for chronic pain in the Far East.

Summarizing and Concluding

These transition words can be used to conclude an argument or to summarize ideas.

a fin de cuentas	all things considered/all in all
al fin y al cabo	in the end/at the end of the day
como resultado	as a result
como se puede ver	as you can see
en conclusión	in conclusion/to cut a long story short
en definitiva	all things considered
en pocas palabras	in brief
en resumen	in summary
en resumidas cuentas	in a nutshell
en suma	in short
esencialmente	in essence
para concluir	in conclusion
para resumir	in short/to sum it up
para terminar	finally
por consiguiente	consequently

Check out these examples!

examples
En resumen, el mundo sería un lugar mejor sin redes sociales. In summary, the world would be a better place without social media.
Al fin y al cabo, la fiesta salió bien. At the end of the day, the party went well.