Linking devices for IELTS writing task 1 and 2

A list of linking devices that can be used to improve one's cohesion score for tasks 1 and 2 IELTS general training writing.

Linking devices for IELTS writing task 1 and 2
Photo by Miltiadis Fragkidis / Unsplash

Formal letters or essays

  • Add: Furthermore / In addition / Moreover
  • Sequence: Firstly / To begin with
  • Reference: Regarding / Concerning / As to /
  • Example: To illustrate / For example / For instance
  • Conditional: If / In the event that / Should
  • Contrast: On the other hand / Nevertheless / However / Although / Whereas / While
  • Expanding: Due to / To clarify / To be precise / In other words / This can be attributed to / This is because / The reason for this is / As a consequence / Therefore
  • Summary: In conclusion

Informal letters

  • Add: Also / And / What's more / On top of that / Plus
  • Sequence: First of all / First of / Since / To start with / First /  As soon as /
  • Reference: As for / About
  • Example: Like / Such as
  • Conditional: If / Just in case / On the off chance that
  • Contrast: Although / Still / but / except / That said / Having said that / Then again / While / Before
  • Emotion: Thankfully / Regretfully
  • Expanding: Because of / For that reason /  So / Basically / In other words / What that means is
  • Summary: To recap / Long story short
  • Other: By the way / All things considered