Discourse markers & connectors

Article excerpt · target grammar marked

She had arrived at a diagnosis: her fear of other people's judgement was not protecting her from pain; instead, it was simply costing her a life. Declined occasionally, she was never mocked; even refusals arrived with encouragement.

Grammar Reference · Discourse markers & connectors

Concessive contrast

Use instead, rather than, or what X was Y to signal an unexpected result. What she received, rather than anger, was patience.

Fronted participle

Open a sentence with a past participle to compress a concession. Declined occasionally, she was never mocked. — note: no conjunction needed.

Additive escalation

Use not only…but or stacked negations to build emphasis. Not bracing for it, not accepting it — actively pursuing it.

Cause → consequence

Use having + past participle to show prior cause. Having diagnosed her fear, she designed the challenge.

01Exercise 1 — Form · Write the Correct Form

Discourse markers & connectors

1.She expected ridicule. she received was warmth.

2. having no justification, she asked if she could make her own coffee.

3.The challenge did not build tolerance for humiliation; , it dismantled her assumptions.

4. turned down, she always left the encounter feeling encouraged.

5.Courage, she concluded, does not guarantee success; , it leads to connection.

6. talked herself out of every opportunity, she designed a challenge to reverse the habit.

02Exercise 2 — Transform

rewrite with the new structure

1.She was afraid. She asked anyway.

2.She expected contempt. She found generosity.

3.She had avoided risk for years. She then designed a challenge around it.

4.Courage does not guarantee success. It leads to connection.

5.She was sometimes refused. She was never humiliated.

6.The experiment was strange. It worked.

7.She asked strangers for advice. They gave it generously.

8.She wore a dress. She went shopping.

03Exercise 3 — About You

in your notebook

Personalise: complete five sentences about yourself using the target grammar.

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