19.4 - Cohesive devices
Once you have progressed beyond reading simple sentences, and those containing subordinate clauses, the next step is to understand the course of an argument, the development of ideas, the affective content or persuasive tactics of a text etc. Arguments and ideas are presented by using linking words and phrases which give a text its cohesion and help us, the readers, follow the points the writer (or speaker) is trying to make, and how s/he is presenting them. Given below are some frequently used cohesive devices, meanings and functions:
| certainty or doubt | мабуть (maybe), можливо (possibly), певно, звісно (definitely, certainly), навряд чи (hardly, scarcely), здається (it looks as if, it would appear), звичайно (of course, naturally), безсумнівно (undoubtedly), безперечно (indisputably), зрозуміло (clearly, plainly), справді, дійсно (indeed, really) |
| evaluation | на щастя (luckily, fortunately), на жаль (unfortunately), на диво (surprisingly), чого доброго (the fear is that), слава Богу (thank goodness), шкода́ (a pity) |
| courtesy and mitigation | будь ласка (please), вибачте, пробачте, простіть, перепрошую (forgive me, sorry, excuse me), до речі (to the point, apropos, by the way, incidentally), так би мовити (so to speak) |
| quoting, providing source of the idea | на мою думку, на мій погляд, по-моєму (in my view, opinion, as for me), за словами (in the words of), як кажуть (as they say), гадаю (I think) |
| formulating and refining | інакше кажучи (in other words), коротко кажучи (in brief, in a nutshell, to cut a long story short), між нами кажучи (between you and me), одне слово, одним словом (in a word), так би мовити (so to speak), слово честі (honestly) |
| establishing contact (with reader) | погодьтесь (I'm sure you will agree), як бачите (as you can see), вважайте (bear in mind, consider), знаєте (you know), розумієш (you understand), значить (that is) |
| ordering, linking, separating | по-перше, по-друге, по-третє (firstly, secondly, thirdly), нарешті, зрештою (finally, after all), отже, таким чином (so, thus), навпаки (conversely, vice versa), наприклад, приміром (for example), власне (specifically), власне кажучи (strictly speaking), головне (the main thing is, the thing is), щоправда (to tell the truth, true), у тому числі (including), мало того (moreover), а саме (namely), зокрема, особливо (especially, in particular) |
N.B. Some of the above conjunctions ending in -o will have a slightly different meaning when used as adverbs.