ON THE WHOLE, I think that women make better journalists than men
Please try not to make a mess when you make the cake. OTHERWISE I'm going to have to clean the kitchen again.
We didn't go away at the weekend because I had too much work. IN ANY CASE/ANYWAY the weather was awful, so we didn't miss anything
....and that's all you need to know about the travel arrangements. AS FAR AS accommodation IS CONCERNED.... AS REGARDS/REGARDING the accommodation, the options are living with a family or living in a hall of residence
AS I WAS SAYING, if Mark gets the job, we'll have to reorganise the department
The government are going to help first-time buyers. THAT IS TO SAY, they are going to make mortgages more easily available.
I like both flats, but ALL IN ALL, I think I prefer the one next to the cathedral
OBVIOUSLY, you can't get a real idea of life in Japan unless you can speak the language
A lot of people booed and some people even left early. IN OTHER WORDS, it was a complete disaster
I think we should buy them. AFTER ALL, we'll never find them anywhere cheaper than this
So let's meet at five o'clock the. BY THE WAY/INCIDENTALLY, could you possible lend me some money until the weekend?
A. Did you see the match last night? B. No I didn't. ACTUALLY/IN FACT/AS A MATTER OF FACT I don't really like football
She's very selfish. I MEAN she never thinks about other people at all
ON THE ONE HAND, more young people today carry knives. ON THE OTHER HAND, the total number of violent crimes has dropped
Yes it was a bad accident. AT LEAST nobody was killed, though. Tom's coming to the meeting, or AT LEAST he said he was
I don't think I'll come to Nick's party. It will finish very late. BESIDES, I won't know many people there
BASICALLY, my job involves computer skills and people skills
A I really like your shirt. Hasn't Harry got one just like it? B Yes he has. TALKING OF Harry, did he get the job he applied for?
To change the direction of a conversation but making a link with what has just been said
To introduce the most important or fundamental point
To introduce the idea that what you said before is less important than what you are going to say now, or to return to the main topic after a digression
To say what the result would be if something did not happen or if the situation were different
To introduce a strong argument that the other person may not have taken into consideration
To return to a previous subject, often after you have been interrupted
To introduce a fact that is very clear to see or understand
To make things clearer or give more details
To balance contrasting facts or points * 'On the other hand' is also used alone to introduce a contrasting fact or point
To introduce a positive point after some negative information or to qualify what you have just said or it make it less definite
To say something again in another way
To generalise
To add additional information or arguments
To say that you are taking everything into consideration
To introduce additional surprising or unexpected information
To introduce something you have just thought of, or to change the conversation completely
To introduce a new topic or to announce a change of subjection
To introduce an explanation or clarification of a point you have just made