If you\u2019ve been studying with good TOEFL materials, you may already know that transition words are very important for the TOEFL. The truth is that they\u2019re important for all communication, but they\u2019re especially helpful for writing good essays, structuring answers, and analyzing text, and those three skills major parts of the TOEFL.<\/p>\n
There are, of course, many different kinds of transition words. There are words that show cause and effect (e.g. \u201cbecause\u201d), those that simply continue a list (e.g. \u201cand\u201d), and others. One of the most important categories of transition words is contrast.<\/p>\n
The most basic, most needed contrast word is \u201cbut.\u201d There are many more, though, with many different specific uses and meanings. Let\u2019s look at some of the less common contrast words you might see or hear on your TOEFL.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This is one of my favorite transition words. Its usage is very close to the usage of \u201calthough\u201d\u2014the meaning is not so strange. But the form of the word is interesting. It comes from the very old phrase \u201call be it,\u201d and that\u2019s still how we pronounce \u201calbeit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The structure of a sentence with \u201calbeit\u201d is important to note, too. Usually, there is no noun or subject after it. That\u2019s because, in a way, \u201calbeit\u201d contains the word \u201cit.\u201d There\u2019s already a noun inside the word. You can think of albeit as \u201calthough it is\u201d or \u201calthough it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
So we could say \u201cWe worked hard, although we were very slow,\u201d with the word \u201cwe\u201d after \u201calthough,\u201d but when using \u201calbeit,\u201d we would instead say \u201cWe worked hard, albeit very slowly.\u201d<\/p>\n
TOEFL example: The turn of the century was marked by a massive technological leap forward, albeit<\/strong> a time of great uncertainty.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n These two words mean the same thing. They\u2019re extremely close in meaning to the word \u201chowever.\u201d The sentence or statement that is before \u201cnonetheless\u201d or \u201cnevertheless\u201d contradicts the statement that\u2019s after, but the second statement is still true and isn\u2019t changed by the first statement.<\/p>\n Keep in mind that both of these words, like \u201chowever,\u201d are used to start a sentence, and a comma is placed after them.<\/p>\n TOEFL example: Van Gogh\u2019s work was mostly unknown during his life. Nevertheless<\/strong>, his paintings are some of the most famous in the world, today. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNotwithstanding\u201d looks a lot like \u201cnonetheless\u201d and \u201cnevertheless,\u201d and the meaning is very similar, but the usage is a bit different. Instead of introducing a full sentence, it usually comes before a single noun phrase. In that sense, it is very similar to the word \u201cdespite.\u201d<\/p>\n Interestingly, \u201cnotwithstanding\u201d can also come after<\/strong> the noun. In fact, that structure is a bit more common. So you can say \u201cnotwithstanding the problems\u201d or \u201cthe problems notwithstanding\u201d to mean the same thing.<\/p>\n TOEFL example: The dark title of the book notwithstanding<\/strong>, it was actually an attempt at comedy\u2014albeit not a very good one. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are a couple meanings of \u201cmeanwhile,\u201d and most people know the meaning related to time before they know the meaning related to contrast. The word means, literally, that two things happen at the same time. But that can be used to show that it\u2019s surprising that both things are true or both things are happening.<\/p>\n For example, I could say this, meaning only that the two things happened at the same time:<\/p>\n \u201cMy mother was out shopping. Meanwhile<\/strong>, I prepared her surprise birthday party.\u201d<\/p>\n But I could also create a contrast like this:<\/p>\n \u201cMy father did nothing for my mother\u2019s birthday. Meanwhile<\/strong>, I prepared her a surprise party.\u201d<\/p>\n TOEFL example:<\/em> The explosion of the Hindenburg was considered a great tragedy, but there were comparatively few deaths\u2014only 36. The crash of the Titanic, meanwhile, killed over 1,500.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019ve been studying with good TOEFL materials, you may already know that transition words are very important for the TOEFL. The truth is that they\u2019re important for all communication, but they\u2019re especially helpful for writing good essays, structuring answers, and analyzing text, and those three skills major parts of the TOEFL. There are, of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13604],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13628],"class_list":["post-765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vocab"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNonetheless \/ Nevertheless<\/h2>\n
Notwithstanding<\/h2>\n
Meanwhile<\/h2>\n