Vocabulary Building (Discourse Markers) 01

In English, some words help to develop ideas, for example "therefore", "furthermore" or "nonetheless"; these are called discourse markers and are usually used in formal writing or speaking situations.

Discourse markers help you to structure your ideas by linking them logically. At the same time they help your audience to follow your ideas, or the thread of your argument.

For example, I might wish to persuade someone to buy a warm winter coat from my friend's shop. First I would need to list all of the reasons this would be an excellent idea, before making my suggestion for a solution to the problem. I might say: "Your coat is beginning to fray at the edges of the sleeves and I've noticed that there is a tear where the hood joins. It's the end of winter and all the shops are selling their coats at a discount; therefore you would probably be able to get a bargain. I know it's an expense; nonetheless, it's better to buy a coat now rather than waiting until the autumn when they are full price." Furthermore, I happen to know that my friend's shop has an excellent range of coats for sale right now at half price!

These words are rather formal for a chatty conversation such as this one, but you can see how they help to link ideas and provide structure for a group of sentences.

Play this quiz to familiarise yourself with discourse markers and then start using them in your writing and speech.