Discourse Markers for Speaking: The Words That Structure Your Speech

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Part 2: Introducing an Idea

Marker	Meaning	Register
D'abord / Tout d'abord	First of all	Standard/Formal
Premierement	Firstly	Formal
En premier lieu	In the first place	Formal
Pour commencer	To begin	Standard
Avant tout	Above all	Standard

Example: "Tout d'abord, il convient de rappeler que l'education est un droit fondamental."

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Part 3: Adding Information

Marker	Meaning	Register
De plus	Moreover	Standard
En outre	Furthermore	Formal
Par ailleurs	Besides / Additionally	Formal
Qui plus est	What's more	Formal
D'autant plus que	All the more so because	Formal
Egalement	Also	Standard

Example: "L'immigration enrichit la diversite culturelle. De plus, elle contribue a la croissance economique."

Part 4: Contrasting Ideas

Marker	Meaning	Register
Cependant	However	Formal
Neanmoins / Toutefois	Nevertheless	Formal
En revanche	On the other hand	Standard
Pourtant	Yet / However	Standard
Malgre tout	Despite everything	Standard
Or	Now / But (logical turn)	Formal

Example: "Le teletravail offre une grande flexibilite. Cependant, il peut engendrer un sentiment d'isolement."

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Part 5: Expressing Cause and Consequence

Marker	Meaning	Register
En effet	Indeed / In fact	Standard
Car	Because (formal)	Formal
Puisque	Since (given that)	Standard
C'est pourquoi	That's why	Standard
Par consequent	Consequently	Formal
De ce fait	As a result	Formal
D'ou	Hence	Formal

Example: "Les ecoles manquent de ressources. C'est pourquoi les resultats scolaires stagnent."

Part 6: Giving Examples

Marker	Meaning	Register
Par exemple	For example	Standard
Notamment	Notably / In particular	Standard
En l'occurrence	In this case	Formal
A titre d'exemple	By way of example	Formal
Comme en temoigne	As evidenced by	Formal

Example: "De nombreux pays investissent dans les energies renouvelables, notamment l'Allemagne et le Danemark."

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Part 7: Concluding

Marker	Meaning	Register
En conclusion	In conclusion	Standard
En somme	In short	Standard
En definitive	Ultimately	Formal
Tout compte fait	All things considered	Standard
Pour conclure	To conclude	Standard
Au final	In the end	Standard
En derniere analyse	In the final analysis	Formal

Example: "En definitive, la transition ecologique necessite une mobilisation a tous les niveaux de la societe."

Part 8: Conceding a Point

Marker	Meaning	Register
Certes... mais	Admittedly... but	Formal
Il est vrai que...	It's true that...	Standard
J'admets que...	I admit that...	Standard
On ne peut nier que...	One cannot deny that...	Formal
Bien que + Subjonctif	Although	Formal

Example: "Certes, le progres technique cree des defis. Mais il ouvre aussi de nouvelles opportunites."

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Discourse Markers for Speaking: The Words That Structure Your Speech

Discourse Markers for Speaking: The Words That Structure Your Speech

Part 1: What Are Discourse Markers?

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Part 2: Introducing an Idea

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Part 3: Adding Information

Part 4: Contrasting Ideas

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Part 5: Expressing Cause and Consequence

Part 6: Giving Examples

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Part 7: Concluding

Part 8: Conceding a Point

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Part 9: Creating a Structure in Your Speaking

Conclusion

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