Well hey there I'm Emma from mmmEnglish.
I''ve got a very interesting English lesson for you today.
I'm going to teach you seven extremely common English
linking words plus their professional equivalents.
So linking words are words that link ideas together
as you speak and you write so it's a really useful skill to have.
They are useful words to know.
But in this lesson we're going to practise the casual,
everyday conversational linking words
alongside the more formal alternatives that will make you sound
more professional when you're linking ideas together in English.
You probably know already that spoken English is
generally more casual whereas written English is more formal.
And it's important to understand the formal and the informal
When you use formal language while you're speaking in just
a regular everyday conversation,
there is a danger that you'll sound a bit stiff and a bit serious.
informal versions in a professional context,
well that's okay but you just might not sound as convincing
or as professional as you want to.
All of the words in this lesson are extremely useful to help you
communicate clearly and effectively in any situation
so I recommend you watch it all the way through to the end.
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Today you get to meet casual Emma and professional Emma.
Casual Emma is going to tell you about her recent trip to Portugal.
And professional Emma is going to talk to you about
Now I want you to sit back and watch and enjoy the story
but all the while see if you can identify some of the linking words
Words in my sentences that link to ideas or two thoughts together.
I just got back from my trip to Portugal.
but I'm really struggling with the jetlag this time.
If I can afford it, I'd fly business class
or maybe break up the trip by staying a night in Dubai.
We wanted really comfortable weather so we travelled in May.
It wasn't too hot, it wasn't too cold, it was perfect.
I'd love to go back again soon because there's just
still so much I want to see and do.
I really enjoyed the food on this trip, sweets like pasteis de nata,
custard tarts and seafood like bacahlau, salted cod.
Everything in Portugal is beautiful, especially those
stunning patterned tiles that you see everywhere.
Did you notice some of the linking words while I was talking?
or,
but,
These are some of the most common linking words in English
and I feel pretty confident that you know at least
Most of them if not all of them.
But if you're feeling a little unsure about the
function or the meaning in English sentences, don't worry
because we're going to review how all of these words are used
in English, what their function is, once we hear from
Professional Emma is going to give you a presentation
and it's going to feel a little more formal because of the language
In it, you're going to hear seven more linking words
that are often used in this type of context, in this formal context.
All of these words are still very common in spoken English
formal than the ones we just went through.
Good morning! I'm here today to talk to you about tourism
in Portugal. Portugal experiences mild winters and hot summers.
As a result, it's popular in summer as well as winter.
The diverse landscape ensures that tourists can enjoy
either a coastal holiday or a trip to the mountains.
In fact, Portugal was voted the best European destination
Since Portugal shares a border with Spain, it's logical that many
tourists are Spanish. Lisbon is by far the most popular destination.
Tourists enjoy activities such as visiting the Alfama neighbourhood
or catching the vintage tram 28 through historic neighbourhoods.
International tourism has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels
whereas domestic tourism is currently booming.
There's just so much to see, even for the Portuguese themselves.
So did you catch any of these linking words?
Each one of them is the formal or more professional equivalent
of the linking words that we heard before.
Professional Emma used words like as well as,
for adding information. We can replace and with as well as
if you want to sound a little bit more formal or
maybe you just want to add a little bit of variety into your sentence
so instead of saying and and and and,
we can add that variety by using as well as.
Portugal is a popular destination in summer and winter.
Or we could say it's popular in summer as well as winter.
To show contrast we can use but in casual conversational English
and whereas to sound a little bit more professional.
International tourism has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels
but domestic tourism is booming
and we can simply switch out but for whereas.
Whereas domestic tourism is booming.
But is definitely a way more common way to contrast ideas
but that's exactly why it helps
to use whereas to sound a little bit more intelligent,
a little bit more official, a little bit more professional.
Now let's look at or and either or.
We use these conjunctions to show alternatives or options
Enjoy a coastal holiday or a trip to the mountains.
So here we have one option and here's the other.
Using either or has the same meaning.
Enjoy either a coastal holiday or a trip to the mountains.
One important thing to note here is that we use or and either or
to connect two things of the same grammatical type in a sentence
so that means we connect two nouns or two verbs
Two of the same thing in the sentence.
Do you prefer chips or popcorn? So we're connecting nouns.
Either you're driving me home or I'm catching a taxi.
So here we're connecting clauses.
Let's take a closer look at this word here for a second.
Have you heard English speakers using
Both of them are correct. I want you to practise a little with me.
You could choose either or either, it really makes no difference
at all. in fact, I use them both.
But this interesting combination of pronunciation creates
another really useful interesting expression that you can learn.
If someone gives you two options to choose from
but you really don't care which one
I'm not fussed, I don't mind, I don't care which one we do because
both of them are fine with me.
So connects a reason with a result.
so Portugal is popular with tourists.
So here's the reason, the nice weather.
And the result is that Portugal is popular.
When we use so in this way to connect a reason to a result
in our sentence, so always comes in the middle
of our sentence because it's linking these two clauses,
And we can replace so with as a result almost interchangeably.
So is more casual, as a result is more formal
but there is one little change that we need to make,
really important little change. We need to add
If it's in the middle of a sentence we must make sure that we add
and.
Portugal has nice weather and as a result, it's very popular
at the beginning of our sentence as well.
As a result of the nice weather, Portugal is popular with tourists.
So can you see the difference in the way that these two examples
Here as a result connects two full sentences together
but here it connects a noun phrase with a sentence.
Now sometimes you want to focus on the reason for something
That's when because and since come in really handy.
Because the weather is nice all year,
Portugal is popular with tourists.
Or since the weather is nice, Portugal is popular with tourists.
Because is really common in both speaking and writing
but since is definitely the more formal choice here.
They can both be placed at the beginning of a sentence
which helps to put some extra focus on
And both of them can be used in the middle of a sentence.
I want to go back to Portugal because there's so much to see!
since there's still so much to see.
Now if you're trying to decide between so and as a result
you need to think about where you want
the focus of your sentence to be, on the reason
That's how you make your choice.
Next up we have like and such as.
Now I want you to forget about to like which means enjoy.
When we're using like as a conjunction or a linking word like this
In Portugal, I really enjoyed the food, sweets like pasteis de nata
So we can replace like with for example or such as
and in a professional or a formal setting, they're much better
choices but in casual everyday conversations,
like sounds so much more natural, friendly and relaxed.
There's one more thing that I want to point out.
Tourists enjoy activities such as visiting the Alfama neighbourhood
Like and such are always followed by a noun or a pronoun,
aren't they? Like pasteis de nata and bacalhau.
So if you want to use a verb you need to make sure that it's
a gerund, it's the -ing form like
Last of all we have especially and in fact.
These words are not actually interchangeable but they have a
similar function in our sentences.
Both of them are used to emphasise
a point, especially is an adverb and we use it to
add emphasis to something, it shows that one thing
is more of something than other things or people.
Everything in Portugal is beautiful,
especially the patterned pavements.
The landscape is beautiful, the people are beautiful
but the patterned pavements are the most
In fact is what we call a discourse marker, something that helps us
to order and connect our ideas as we speak or we write.
And we use in fact to give more information
Portugal is popular with tourists.
best European destination to visit by car.
To emphasise the popularity of Portugal, I'm using in fact
to add extra information and to highlight
this important information and draw attention to it
It makes people listen when you say in fact.
Here's some extra information that's interesting.
It's usually used to introduce a sentence but
you'll see it at the end of a sentence as well.
Portugal was voted best European destination to visit by car,
Again it's adding that emphasis, that
interesting extra piece of information
So that's it for today's lesson.
I hope you learned something new, something interesting.
you could prove it to me by writing some of your own sentences