Linking language · Examples

Examples connectors in English

These connectors tell the reader that what comes next is one case of the claim you just made. Use an example connector when you move from a general claim to a specific case. In Task 2 the example does not have to be real — a plausible, concrete situation is enough, and inventing statistics costs more than it gains.

6 connectorseach with where it goes and how it is punctuated

2 worked examplesthe relationship, explained

2 common mistakeswith the repair

4 exercisesrelationship first, then the word

Start here · the long version

What examples connectors really claim

Example connectors introduce a concrete case that shows an abstract claim in operation. They illustrate; they do not prove.

Illustration is not evidence, and the distinction is graded

Task 2 gives you no sources and expects none. An example exists to make an abstract claim visible — to show what it looks like when it actually happens — and that is a genuinely useful job: a reader who has seen the claim in operation understands it better than one who has only been told it. What an example cannot do is establish that the claim is true, and the vocabulary has to respect that difference.

“A case in point is” and “for instance” illustrate. “Studies have proven that” and “according to a 2019 report” claim a source you do not have and cannot cite, and invented statistics are the most damaging version because they feel like rigour while you are writing them. An examiner who has read four essays quoting four different invented percentages reads the fifth exactly as what it is.

The grammar is small and worth getting right: “for example” takes a comma on both sides when it sits inside a sentence, and “such as” takes a noun with no comma at all. “For example of” does not exist — the phrase that does is “an example of”.

Illustrate, do not prove

One concrete case makes the claim visible. It does not establish it, and no wording will.

No invented figures

“A recent study found that 73%…” is a fabricated fact and reads as one.

Punctuation

“For example” takes commas mid-sentence. “Such as” takes a noun and no comma.

One per paragraph

A paragraph that is mostly example has stopped arguing.

What it costs you to skip this

A fabricated source damages more than the sentence it sits in: once a reader has seen one invented statistic, every other claim in the essay is read with suspicion. And a missing example costs differently — an abstract claim that is never shown in operation stays abstract, and the criterion asks for ideas that are extended and supported, not merely stated.

Where it stops applying

An example is one paragraph’s worth of illustration, not a substitute for reasoning: if the example is doing the arguing, the argument was never written. And it must actually be a case of the claim — a case that illustrates something adjacent is worse than none, because the reader now has to work out what it was for.

Examples · what these words actually do

A connector joins two sentences and names the relationship between them

That is the whole job. The words are not decoration and they are not interchangeable: each one makes a claim about how the second sentence relates to the first, and the reader will read it that way whether you meant it or not. Here is what this family claims.

First sentence

Sustained investment in cycling infrastructure changes how a city moves.

For example

Second sentence

Amsterdam now handles a large share of daily trips by bicycle after three decades of dedicated lanes.

The first sentence is a general claim. The second is one case of it. The order matters: claim first, case second. Reversed, the reader gets a fact about Amsterdam with no argument attached to it.

When you need it
Use an example connector when you move from a general claim to a specific case. In Task 2 the example does not have to be real — a plausible, concrete situation is enough, and inventing statistics costs more than it gains.

The connectors

Where each one goes, and how it is punctuated

They do not all behave the same way. Two connectors can mean the same thing and still be written differently — that is where most linking errors come from.

For example

Neutral

Opens the sentence with a comma, or sits mid-sentence between commas.

For instance

Neutral

Identical in use to “for example”. Alternate between the two rather than repeating one.

Such as

Neutral

Sits inside the sentence and is followed by a noun: “countries such as Finland”. It never opens a sentence.

In particular

Formal

Narrows to the most important case rather than listing any case.

A case in point is

Formal

Opens the sentence and promises that the example is decisive, so only use it when it is.

To illustrate

Formal

Opens the sentence with a comma. Useful when the example needs a full sentence to land.

Watch one · then do three

See the relationship before you choose the word

The connector is not a decoration. It is a claim about how the two halves relate, and the reader will hold you to it.

Worked example · For instance

Sustained investment in cycling infrastructure changes how a city moves.

For instance, Amsterdam now handles a large share of daily urban trips by bicycle after three decades of dedicated lanes and secure storage.

Why this one: The general claim comes first, the specific case second. Reversing them leaves the reader with a fact and no argument attached to it.

Worked example · such as

Inside the sentence, not opening it.

such as, Countries such as Finland and South Korea have restructured teacher training over the past twenty years.

Why this one: “Such as” attaches to the noun it exemplifies. Writing “Such as Finland, the country restructured…” is a sentence fragment.

What goes wrong

The two mistakes this family produces

Such as, Japan has an ageing population.

“Such as” is not a sentence opener; it needs a noun in front of it to exemplify.

Repaired: Countries with ageing populations, such as Japan, face rising pension costs.

For example, a study by researchers proved that 87% of people agree.

An unnamed study and an invented figure add a second problem on top of the first. Task 2 rewards your reasoning, not fabricated evidence.

Repaired: For example, a commuter who saves an hour a day gains an entire working week over a month.

Now you try · with the scaffolding on

Build it one step at a time

Support it with an example that illustrates without inventing a source.

The material

Your claim: “Congestion charging changes driver behaviour more quickly than fuel taxes.”

Step 1Name a concrete case

A real, general case. No percentages, no “a recent study”, nothing you would have to cite.

Your version0 words · minimum 6

6 more words before you can compare. Writing it yourself first is the whole exercise.

Step 2Say what the example shows — and what it does not

Step 3Write the claim and the example together

Exercises · step 1, the relationship

Before the word, the direction

Choosing the connector is the second decision. The first one is noticing where the next sentence is going.

Step 1 · the relationship

Which sentence comes next — and why that one?

The sentence you have: Some subjects reward early specialisation far more than others.

Three sentences could follow. Only one of them what comes next is one case of the claim you just made. Choose it before you think about any connector.

Exercises · step 2, the word

Choose the connector the sentence actually needs

Now that you can see the direction, pick the word that announces it. The first wrong answer gives you a hint and a second attempt, and every wrong option explains what it would have signalled instead. Nothing here is scored.

Sustained investment in cycling infrastructure can transform how a city moves. _______, Amsterdam now handles a large share of all daily urban trips by bicycle following three decades of dedicated investment in cycle lanes.

Some subjects reward early specialisation more than others. _______, a violinist or a gymnast who begins at fifteen has already lost the years that decide the outcome.

Several countries have restructured teacher training in the last two decades, _______ Finland and South Korea, both of which now recruit from the top of the graduate pool.

The other families