IELTS/TOEFL Writing Linking Words (Rather, Instead, Besides)

hi everybody welcome to write to the top I'm Adam in today's video I want to talk to you about a specific writing tool that I I think many people have some trouble with because I see many people making mistake mistakes with these particular terms what I'm gonna look at are linking words and in particular these three words rather instead and besides now all three of these have similarities but they're also they also have some major differences and these words these three words in particular seem to give some writers a hard time so I'm gonna show you how to use them basically very simple quick video about how to use these three words so first of all let's start with a comparison instead of trying to impress an interviewer with sophisticated language and fancy stats a candidate should demonstrate his preparedness to join the company so here I'm showing you an alternative what a person should do not this do this instead substitute alternative I'm showing you and the other thing you can do or the candidate can do rather than try to impress an interviewer with sophisticated language so on the rest of the sentence is exactly the same the two sentences essentially mean the same thing instead and rather than can be used in the same way interchangeably the main thing you have to remember instead of trying ing rather than try base verb or infinitive if you want to call it that so basically the usage is a little bit different the meaning is essentially the same besides showing the interviewer that he is familiar with the firm's history and corporate culture a candidate can offer insight into the company's trajectory like where it's going forward so here besides showing so show show this yes show another thing that you know so don't show different don't substitute show this and this so this is another other instead other instead or rather basically show a different alternative this one this and that you're still showing an alternative you're just adding it you're not substituting it so that's the main way that people make mistakes with these three especially with the word besides but I'm going to show you the full other uses of these words to give you a better understanding so let's start with the word rather and this is where I see the most mistakes actually because they confuse the a lot of people confuse this word with other words and I'll show you why let's start with functions what is what do you what is the function of this word what are you going to use it to do you're gonna show preference or choice okay and you're gonna say word rather a then B now you don't have to use them but you can depending how you structure the sentence most athletes would rather lose fairly than win by cheating they have two options this is the option they choose to lose fairly let's look at this one given the choice most students would rather not do homework every day so here the choice is basically yes or no you only have homework every day you're not comparing it to another activity you're comparing homework every day to not homework every day so in that case you don't need them you just simply need to say word rather not would rather wants to do we'd rather not doesn't want to do very simple same verb options so that's your choice preference you can also present an alternative something else you could do not this thing not the first choice the government should not spend on space exploration rather they ought to spend on healthcare and education for their citizens so here you notice I also put instead instead they are two so these are direct linking terms they're following a semicolon because they're starting a new clause so these are direct we can call them even transition words because they're beginning a sentence and they're standing by themselves followed by a comma rather and here I'm going to present you the alternative instead I'm going to present to you the alternative in this case they mean the exact same thing instead and rather but I'll show you instead in a moment as well now you can show contrast using the word lather you can do it two ways one is but rather basically a very direct here's it the difference or you can follow follow rather than and then have another clause to show the the other option the other the contrasting option climate deniers are often not wrong but our rather miss informed so misinformed basically they have the wrong information so they think they're right they're not right they're actually wrong but not in their minds because they just got the wrong information so based on the information they received they are actually correct the information itself is incorrect so it's a little bit confusing but the but rather just emphasizes the difference okay rather than listen to the public's demands some corporations give heed only to their shareholders so rather than do this they do that so here are the two things that could be done they don't do this one they do do that one and here again I can put instead of with an ING instead of listening to the public's demands some corporations so you still have that contrast with separate clauses the different actions in each clause so that's rather let's look now at instead and sometimes instead of instead has very limited usage it's only to show an alternative or another option or a substitute a very direct replacement of an option if a soda is not readily available many kids will refuse to drink water instead even if this is the only drink available at a time water instead of soda basically a substitute they will not substitute water for soda that's direct meaning of instead then you can also show to show a contrast with a substitute this year rather than go to the beach again for a vacation we decided to go to a big city instead two things I want to mention here one notice that I can end the sentence with instead I cannot end a sentence with rather and I cannot end a sentence with besides I can only end a sentence with instead to show an alternative now here you may be confused because I'm using rather than and instead I use this for emphasis this year rather than go to a beach again for our vacation we decided to go to a big city period that's enough it's still showing you the contrast the different options the different choice you made but here I'm using instead to emphasize that I'm substituting my usual vacation plans that's one another thing this year instead of going to a beach again for our vacation we decided to go to a big city I can put me instead inst in the place of rather than to show the substitution I don't add the rather than anywhere else and I just end on the city okay again you have different options but remember instead is always to show another option or a substitution rather than could be for another substitution or for a choice or a preference so make sure you know the function you're trying to use now before I get to besides the most common problem I see with rather and rather than is that people confuse van with rather than to the van of more than the two things are completely different more than you are comparing two things rather than you are showing an option between two things a preference of one thing over another don't mix all three together more rather than rather more than do not do that and I see that a lot don't put rather and more together make sure you understand what you're trying to express if you're trying to compare more if you're trying to show a preference rather don't mix them all up let's look at besides a few meanings here okay and I think you a lot of people don't actually realize this besides kin means accept to accept something an exception besides Jim or other than Jim no one came so accept Jim other than Jim no one came so only Jim came this approach has no benefits besides financial ones so the only benefits it has are financial ones it has no other benefits than those okay so that's accept and a lot of people don't use this function enough try to use it it's actually pretty good word now in addition any way or hypothetical so even if and another option that's a little confusing I'll show you I can't go and besides I don't want to basically this besides can be replaced with anyway or it could be replaced with even if I can't go period even if I wanted to go even if sorry even if I could go I don't want to so here's a situation besides me is that even if this weren't the case something else I'm gonna add after it right so that's another the most common casual way of using besides this is used a lot more in spoken English not so much in written English although it can be used in written English but you're gonna compare sentence to sentence not within a sentence and I'll show you that in a second it is justifiable to expel a student who bullies others since he is a danger to them and to himself period besides it is often just a matter of time before this type of student that's something else were they've exposed so even if you do not expel this student for bullying at some point you will expel him for something else maybe cheating on a test maybe being rude to a teacher maybe committing some sort of crime this is the type of person who will do something bad at some point so even if the first sentences situation is not true or not accurate or it doesn't happen something else will happen to make this the conclusion fair I hope that's a little bit clearer it's a little bit complicated be but remember look at the relationship between the two sentences here's the first one even if it weren't true here's what would happen anyway okay so even if anyway now here is a another sorry don't worry about the in addition here let's look about in addition here I forgot to take it out here in addition to something or together with something and this is what the one that gets people confused and I'll show you an example in a minute besides the obvious economic advantages so in addition to the economic advantages or together with the economic advantages the oil industry also provides the nation with political power so it does this and it does that so here besides means like beyond only this more than just this in addition to this together with this and this is the one that many people confuse this is not the same as the in addition to start a sentence to link back to the previous sentence okay and I'll show you where the people make the most mistakes here I'm going to show you three second sentences here's the first sentence the oil industry props up the country's iconic anima basically it keeps it up and holds it up lifts it up now I'm gonna add a second sentence in addition it gives the country political power to negotiate with its neighbors so in addition to propping up the economy it also does this so I'm adding a new advantage to the one just mentioned besides it gives the country political power to negotiate with its neighbors this besides is like that confusing one I just told you like they even if besides it gives the country political power so even if it didn't give it even if it didn't help the economy it still gives it political power so it's still a good thing so this besides is not the same as the in addition this besides says that anyway even if it weren't true it still does something good we still need the oil industry so be very careful don't think and is what a lot of people do when they use this word besides to begin a sentence they think they're putting a synonym to in addition synonyms to in addition are moreover furthermore another etc besides has a slightly different nuance and slightly different meaning besides this clear advantage now this one is a little bit closer to in addition but this one means in addition to right not in you have to give something specific address so you have to give me this clear advantage you have to give me an object besides this clear advantage economic it also gives the country political power okay besides the economic advantage besides helping the economy besides something it does something else so together with in addition to so you can't use all of like in addition or besides interchangeably you have to be very careful in how you use this word besides and this is a very common problem I see in the essays in the IELTS and TOEFL essays okay and that's it very straightforward I hope that was a little bit clearer I know these words can be a little bit confusing sometimes but again it's just practice in a reading with the more you read the more you'll see these words being used and know how to use them yourself so if you have any questions about any of this please ask in the youtube comments section and don't forget to try to help each other don't forget to come back next week subscribe to my channel and I'll see you again soon with more hopefully useful tips for writing see you bye bye

Channel: Write to the Top

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Keywords: IELTS, TOEFL, English writing, writing skills, language test, English grammar, English vocabulary, how to write an essay, essay writing, test tips, English test, word choice, English skills, test preparation, study tips, TOEFL high score, language skills, how to write in English, IELTS high band, IELTS writing, TOEFL writing, academic writing, academic vocabulary, IELTS academic essay, cohesion, coherence, contrast, sentence variety, word usage

Id: hW3kWqqXOjs

Length: 15min 2sec (902 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 11 2019