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Linking Words for IELTS Writing Task 2 with Types

Linking Words for IELTS Writing are essential tools for structuring ideas, ensuring coherence, and enhancing clarity in your responses. This guide provides categorized lists of linking words for listing, contrasting, giving examples, showing results, and more, along with sample questions and answers.
authorImageSupriya Shrivastava6 May, 2025
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Linking words for IELTS writing

Linking Words for IELTS Writing: The linking words play an important role in improving your answers in the IELTS Writing. This improves your answer quality and demonstrates your ability to express ideas clearly and logically. The IELTS Writing Task 2 linking words can be divided into many parts: Listing, Adding information, Results and Consequences, Contrasts and concessions, Causes and reasons, and more. Here, we have included a few examples of linking words for IELTS Writing along with sample examples. Practice these IELTS linking words in your writing to improve your answer quality.

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Linking Words for IELTS Writing Overview

The linking words for IELTS can be divided into many categories. These words can improve coherence, clarity, and cohesiveness of your answer writing. Linking words are used to present your viewpoint and make links between various facts. Here are some key categories of linking words for IELTS Writing Task 2:

Linking Words for IELTS Writing

Listing

Adding information

Giving examples

Results and Consequences 

Highlighting and Stress

Contrasts and concessions

Causes and reasons

Giving your opinion

Linking Words for IELTS Writing List

1. Listing

Listing words helps structure your ideas in a logical sequence, making it easier for the examiner to follow your points.

  • Firstly

  • Secondly

  • Next

  • Then

  • Finally

  • To begin with

  • In addition

  • Moreover

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2. Adding Information

These phrases allow you to extend your ideas by adding more supporting points, enhancing the depth of your response.

  • Furthermore

  • Additionally

  • What is more

  • Also

  • As well as

  • Not only that

  • Besides

  • In the same way

3. Giving Examples

Example phrases help illustrate and clarify your arguments, which is especially important in IELTS Writing Task 2.

  • For example

  • For instance

  • Such as

  • Namely

  • In particular

  • To illustrate

  • To give an example

  • One clear example is

Also Read:

4. Results and Consequences

These linking words show cause-and-effect relationships, allowing you to explain the impact or outcome of a situation.

  • As a result

  • Therefore

  • Thus

  • Consequently

  • Hence

  • So

  • This leads to

  • As a consequence

5. Highlighting and Stress

These are used to emphasize specific points or highlight particularly important data or opinions.

  • Especially

  • In particular

  • Notably

  • Significantly

  • Above all

  • It is worth mentioning

  • Indeed

  • Most importantly

6. Contrasts and Concessions

Useful for comparing data or presenting opposing ideas clearly, which is common in both Task 1 and Task 2.

  • However

  • On the other hand

  • Whereas

  • While

  • In contrast

  • Nevertheless

  • Even though

  • Although

IELTS Writing Tips, Strategy, and Practice

7. Causes and Reasons

These phrases are essential for explaining why something happened, often used to support your analysis in Task 2 and occasionally in Task 1.

  • Because

  • Since

  • As

  • Due to

  • Owing to

  • For this reason

  • The main cause is

  • This is because

8. Giving Your Opinion

Primarily used in Task 2, these help clearly express your personal viewpoint in a formal and academic manner.

  • In my opinion

  • I believe that

  • From my perspective

  • I think that

  • It seems to me that

  • I would argue that

  • Personally

  • I am convinced that

Linking Words for IELTS Writing Sample Question (Task 2 – Problem/Solution Essay)

Fill in the blanks:

______ the rise of urban populations, many cities are facing severe traffic congestion. ______, people spend hours commuting to work, which reduces productivity and affects mental health. ______, one possible solution is to improve public transportation systems. ______ increasing the availability and frequency of buses and trains, fewer individuals would rely on private cars. ______, traffic levels could decrease significantly over time.

Answer with Linking Words:

Due to the rise of urban populations, many cities are facing severe traffic congestion. As a result, people spend hours commuting to work, which reduces productivity and affects mental health. To address this, one possible solution is to improve public transportation systems. By increasing the availability and frequency of buses and trains, fewer individuals would rely on private cars. Consequently, traffic levels could decrease significantly over time.

100 IELTS Essay Questions, Types, Preparation Tips

Linking Words for IELTS Writing Sample Question (Task 1 – Table Chart Overview)

Fill in the blanks:

The table displays data on consumer spending in five countries across three categories. ______, food, drinks, and tobacco accounted for the highest percentage of expenditure in all nations. ______, leisure and education consistently made up the smallest portion. ______, Turkey had the highest spending in both food and leisure, ______ Sweden reported the lowest figures in those categories. ______, the table reveals clear contrasts in spending habits across the countries surveyed.

Answer with Linking Words:

The table displays data on consumer spending in five countries across three categories. Overall, food, drinks, and tobacco accounted for the highest percentage of expenditure in all nations. In contrast, leisure and education consistently made up the smallest portion. Notably, Turkey had the highest spending in both food and leisure, whereas Sweden reported the lowest figures in those categories. In summary, the table reveals clear contrasts in spending habits across the countries surveyed. 

Guidance of PW IELTS

Physics Wallah offers multiple online IELTS courses for all students. Follow the IELTS pages to better prepare for the exam.

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Linking Words for IELTS Writing FAQs

What are linking words in IELTS Writing?

Linking words are phrases used to connect ideas and sentences logically, helping improve coherence and cohesion in IELTS Writing tasks.

Why are linking words important in IELTS Writing Task 2?

They make your argument clearer and more structured, which can improve your score in the Coherence and Cohesion criterion.

Can I use the same linking words repeatedly?

Yes, you can use same linking words repeatedly. But, it’s best to vary your linking words to show a wider range of vocabulary and avoid repetition.

Are informal linking words acceptable in IELTS Writing?

No, always use formal linking words in IELTS Writing to maintain an academic tone.

How many linking words should I use in my IELTS essay?

There’s no fixed number, but 6–10 well-placed linking phrases throughout your essay are generally sufficient for clarity and structure.
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