essay writing tips

What Are The Most Suitable Words For An Opening Paragraph?


The opening paragraph of an essay or paper is what most writers call the hook of your paper.  It hooks the reader into reading your essay or paper.  Your opening paragraph has to have a great opening sentence, your thesis statement, a short overview of your topic, and a great transition into the body of your essay.  There are quick a few words that you can not only use in your opening paragraph but you can also use generally throughout your essay.

Opening Paragraph Words

These words work great in your opening paragraph but also in general as well.

  • Certainly
  • Granted
  • Of Course
  • Undoubtedly
  • In general
  • Unquestionably
  • At this level
  • Obviously
  •  Admittedly
  • To be sure
  • Assuredly
  • True

Transition Words

These are some general words that you can use throughout your essay and they are great for transitioning from paragraph to paragraph and work well in other places of your paragraph.

  • Therefore
  • Thereafter
  • However
  • Furthermore
  •  Likewise
  •  Meanwhile
  •  Nevertheless
  • Nonetheless
  • Next
  •  Now
  •  Then
  •  Thus
  •  Finally
  • Hence

Words Not To Use in Your Essay

Vague words like:

  •  Very
  • A lot or lots
  •  Many
  • Really
  • Thing
  • Stuff
  • Good
  • Nice

Also don’t use slang in your essay like using peeps for friends, rents for parents, and sick for cool. Actually, you shouldn’t use cool either. Keep in mind that your essay is formal so you can’t use words like:

  • I
  • Me
  • My
  • Mine
  • Our, Ours
  • We
  •  Us
  •   You
  • Your
  •  Yours

Another place where students have problems in is how they start their sentences.  Don’t use:

  • Well
  • So
  • Also
  • Lastly/Finally
  • In conclusion

This is lazy and you can find better words to use in your essay.

Another mistake that students make when writing an essay is that they use clichés in their essay.  If you don’t know what those are, I’ll give you a few examples:

  • “Nip it in the bud”
  • “Nick of time”
  •  “Over the hill”
  • “Time heals all wounds”
  •  “Read between the lines”
  •  “The quiet before storm”

These are some suggestions that you can use in your essay to make it better. As you are writing your essay, remember that you are a great writer and that you should expect more from yourself.  Don’t forget to outline your essay before you write it. This will help you organize your work and help you write a better essay.  One last note: don’t use a thesaurus just to put more words in your essay, use it to find better words for simpler ones.


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