Academic Sentence Starters

___ marks a blank to fill in; … means the sentence continues in your own words.

Starters are a scaffold, not a script — finish each one with your own ideas and evidence, and vary them so no two paragraphs open the same way.

How to Use the Academic Sentence Starters

1. 1. Pick the job the sentence has to do. Choose a function — giving background, adding evidence, conceding a point — or browse all twelve at once.
2. 2. Add your topic (optional). Starters with a topic slot fill it in, so “Opponents of [topic] point out that …” becomes a sentence about your subject.
3. 3. Search for a word. Type contrast, data, or however to narrow the list.
4. 4. Copy, then finish the sentence yourself. Fill each ___ blank and complete each … with your own idea and evidence.

The Twelve Functions

Worked Example

Try an example fills in the topic the four-day school week. Choose Conceding a point, and two of its seventeen starters now name your subject:

Finished with your own material, the second might read: “Opponents of the four-day school week point out that working parents must arrange childcare for the fifth day.” The starter supplies the move — acknowledging an objection — and everything after it is yours.

Using Starters Without Sounding Formulaic

• Vary them. Opening every paragraph with “Furthermore,” or “In conclusion,” reads as filler. Use a starter once, then change the shape of the next sentence.
• Make the sentence keep the starter's promise. “This shows that …” promises analysis; if the sentence only restates the evidence, the starter claims something your writing does not deliver.
• Save emphasis for points that need it. Starters such as “It is worth stressing that …” lose their force when every paragraph has one.
• Mind the tense. Methods and results are usually reported in the past tense (“Data were collected…”), and APA style uses the past or present perfect to describe other researchers' work.

To see which transition words a finished draft already leans on, paste it into the Transition Word Finder: that tool analyzes your text, while this one gives you sentences to start from.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are academic sentence starters?

They are opening phrases that signal what a sentence is doing — introducing evidence, comparing, conceding, concluding — in the formal register academic writing expects. Used well, they make your reasoning easier to follow; you still supply the idea that completes each one.

Is it plagiarism to use sentence starters?

No. Short, conventional phrases such as “The results show that” or “By contrast,” are the shared language of academic writing, not anyone's original expression. Plagiarism concerns the ideas and distinctive wording you take from sources, so what you add after the starter must be your own or properly cited.

How do I start a sentence that introduces evidence?

Name the source or the kind of evidence first — “According to ___,”, “Data from ___ indicate that”, “A study by ___ found that” — then give the evidence and cite it. The Adding evidence group has seventeen ways to do this.

What are good sentence starters for a conclusion?

Phrases that pull ideas together rather than repeat them: “What emerges from this discussion is…”, “Taken together, the evidence suggests that…”, “The broader lesson of ___ is…”. Avoid any starter that opens a new argument in your final paragraph.

Can I use “I” in academic writing?

Often, yes. Many disciplines accept the first person for stating your own argument (“I will argue that…”), and APA style recommends “I” or “we” over awkward passive constructions when you describe your own actions. Check your instructor's or journal's guidance, since some fields still prefer an impersonal style.

Are the sentence starters generated by AI?

No. The bank is a fixed list built into the page, and nothing is generated when you use it — honest templates, no AI. Filling in your topic is a simple find-and-replace that happens in your browser.