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Transition word

Also called Connective · Discourse marker · Linking word

A transition word is a word or phrase — however, therefore, moreover, in contrast — that signals the logical relationship between one sentence or paragraph and the next.

Last reviewed 15 August 2026 · The HumanFlow team

In plain English

Signposts. They tell the reader whether what comes next agrees, contradicts, follows from, or simply adds to what came before.

English has light ones and heavy ones. "But" and "so" do the same job as "however" and "therefore" with less ceremony.

A worked example

The same three sentences, heavy then light.

Heavy: The sample was small. Moreover, the response rate was low.
       Furthermore, two sites withdrew. Therefore, the finding is
       provisional.

Light: The sample was small and the response rate was low. Two sites
       withdrew as well, so the finding is provisional.

The heavy version signposts every single step, including steps a reader would have taken unaided. Four sentences, four signposts.

The light version keeps the one that earns its place — "so", marking the conclusion — and lets the accumulation do the rest.

Nothing in the heavy version is incorrect. It is simply over-signposted, which is what makes it feel mechanical.

Why it matters for AI detection

Heavy transitions appear on every published list of AI-writing tells, and there is a real reason for it: models trained to produce well-structured prose reach for explicit connectives more often than people do.

That does not make them evidence. Formal academic writing has always used them, teaching materials recommend them, and second-language writers are frequently taught to use them precisely because they make structure explicit for the reader.

So deleting them to avoid suspicion is the wrong move, and it is a move this site will not recommend. Reduce them where they are signposting the obvious, because that reads better. Keep the ones marking a genuine turn in the argument.

Commonly confused with

Conjunction
A conjunction joins clauses inside one sentence — and, but, because. A transition word links across sentence or paragraph boundaries. Several words do both jobs depending on position.
Burstiness
Transition frequency is about vocabulary at sentence boundaries. Burstiness is about variation in sentence length and predictability. Both feed the impression of monotony from different directions.

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Part of the AI detection glossary.