69+ Great Sentence Starters to Improve Your Writing
Struggling to start sentences? Discover 69+ sentence starters to enhance clarity, flow, and impact in your essays and writing.
Writing a strong essay or paper starts with a solid sentence. The right sentence starter makes your ideas flow smoothly. Whether you’re crafting an argument, telling a story, or analyzing a topic, choosing the right words is key.
This guide provides over 69 sentence starters to improve your writing. You’ll learn when and how to use them effectively.
What is a Sentence Starter?
A sentence starter is a phrase or word that helps begin a sentence. It guides the reader into your thought process and ideas. Using a strong starter improves clarity, making your writing easier to follow and more engaging.
Sentence starters improve sentence variety, making your work more interesting to read. They also help structure your thoughts, avoid repetition, and create smooth transitions between ideas, improving flow and coherence.
When to Use Sentence Starters
You should use sentence starters when introducing, connecting, or concluding ideas. They help structure your writing and improve readability. Strong sentence starters also create smoother transitions, making your argument or narrative more compelling.
Use sentence starters to:
- Introduce a new idea
- Expand on a point
- Provide examples
- Show contrast
- Draw conclusions
- Emphasize key ideas
- Create smooth transitions
Good sentence starters improve readability and make your writing more persuasive.
Sentence Starters for the Beginning of an Essay
Your essay’s first sentence sets the tone for the reader. Starting an essay with a strong sentence grabs the reader’s attention and introduces the topic clearly. The right sentence starter makes your introduction engaging and provides a foundation for your argument or discussion. Use these sentence starters to introduce your topic effectively:
- Throughout history, people have debated…
- Many people believe that…
- It is often said that…
- One of the most important issues today is…
- In recent years, there has been a growing concern about…
- The purpose of this essay is to…
- This essay will explore…
- A common question people ask is…
- Have you ever wondered why…?
- Imagine a world where…
Sentence Starters for Introducing an Idea
When you introduce a new idea, you want it to be clear and engaging. A strong sentence starter ensures your reader follows your argument. These sentence starters help present key points smoothly and keep your writing organized.
Use these phrases when presenting a new thought or argument:
- One important aspect to consider is…
- To begin with…
- A key point to remember is…
- The main idea here is…
- It is important to note that…
Sentence Starters for Adding More Information
Expanding on an idea requires smooth transitions. Using the right sentence starter helps you add details naturally. These sentence starters connect ideas while keeping your writing fluid and logical. They prevent abrupt shifts and maintain a steady flow.
When expanding on an idea, try these starters:
- Furthermore…
- In addition…
- Another point worth mentioning is…
- Not only that, but…
- Moreover…
Sentence Starters for Giving an Example
Examples strengthen your writing by providing evidence or clarification. A well-placed sentence starter signals to the reader that an example is coming. This makes your writing clearer and more persuasive.
Use these sentence starters to introduce examples effectively:
- For example…
- To illustrate…
- A good example of this is…
- This can be seen in…
- Specifically…
Sentence Starters for Showing Contrast
Comparing opposing ideas adds depth to your writing. A strong contrast sentence starter highlights differences clearly. Whether comparing viewpoints, evidence, or outcomes, these sentence starters help present contrasts smoothly and effectively.
Use these to introduce opposing views or contradictions:
- However…
- On the other hand…
- Although…
- Despite this…
- Nevertheless…
Sentence Starters for Explaining a Cause or Effect
Cause-and-effect relationships help explain why something happened. Explaining how one event leads to another strengthens your argument. Using the right sentence starter makes these connections and the relationship between cause and effect clearer. Whether you’re discussing historical events, scientific processes, or personal experiences, these starters improve clarity and flow.
When explaining causes and their consequences, these sentence starters help clarify relationships between events or ideas:
- Because of this…
- As a result…
- Due to…
- This led to…
- Consequently…
- For this reason…
- One effect of this is…
- As a consequence…
- This was caused by…
- Therefore…
Sentence Starters for Emphasizing a Point
Sometimes, you need to highlight an important idea. Emphasizing a point ensures the reader pays attention to key details. These sentence starters help draw focus to significant arguments, facts, or opinions in your writing.
If you want to stress an important idea, use these:
- Most importantly…
- Without a doubt…
- It is clear that…
- Undoubtedly…
- Significantly…
Sentence Starters to Show Uncertainty or Doubt
Not everything in writing is absolute. Sometimes, you need to express uncertainty, doubt, or speculation. These sentence starters help you introduce possibilities, question assumptions, or acknowledge different perspectives while keeping your writing precise.
When discussing uncertain ideas, possibilities, or speculations, these sentence starters help express doubt or a lack of certainty:
- It is possible that…
- There is some debate about…
- It is not entirely clear whether…
- Some experts suggest that…
- It is believed that…
- The evidence suggests that…
- There may be a chance that…
- While it is uncertain, some argue that…
- Although unproven, some theories claim that…
- It remains to be seen whether…
Sentence Starters for Historical or Generally Accepted Concepts
When writing about history or widely accepted ideas, you need to sound knowledgeable and authoritative. These sentence starters introduce facts, theories, and historical perspectives smoothly. They help establish credibility and make your writing more persuasive.
These sentence starters help establish credibility and make your writing sound authoritative and well-researched:
- Throughout history, it has been widely accepted that…
- Historians agree that…
- It is a well-known fact that…
- Research has consistently shown that…
- For centuries, people have believed that…
- According to historical records…
- Experts in the field argue that…
- Traditionally, it has been understood that…
- Many scholars have suggested that…
- Over time, society has recognized that…
Sentence Starters for Concluding a Point
A strong conclusion wraps up your ideas effectively. The right sentence starter signals to the reader that you’re summarizing or reaching a final point. These sentence starters help reinforce your argument and leave a lasting impression.
Summarize or wrap up your ideas effectively with these phrases:
- In conclusion…
- To summarize…
- As a result…
- Therefore…
- Ultimately…
Final Thoughts
Using sentence starters improves the clarity, flow, and impact of your writing. The right sentence starter helps you introduce ideas smoothly, connect thoughts logically, and guide the reader through your argument. Whether you’re writing an essay, a research paper, or a creative piece, strong sentence starters make your writing more engaging and professional.
Next time you write, try incorporating different sentence starters to enhance variety and structure. With practice, you’ll develop a natural ability to use them effectively, making your writing more polished and persuasive.
