“A time connective, ” tells the reader when an action is happening. They can be dedicated, like first, next, and last, or constructed phrases that refer to a specific period, like in December or on 15th January.?
Time Connectives Examples:
Time connectives (sometimes called temporal connectives or time conjunctions) can be very specific or merely suggestive.
Below is a list of some good time connectives examples :
- First
- Next
- Later
- After
- Then
- Soon
- Finally
- Suddenly
- Before
- While
- When
- At last
- Lastly
- Just then
- Meanwhile
Placing Time Connectives
Time connectives can be placed at the start or the middle of a sentence. For example, this sentence uses the time connectives at the beginning.
After dinner, you must do your homework. Then you can read your book.
Here, eventually, is the time connective and is used in the middle of the sentence.
The bike ride was hard, but eventually, John finished.
Ordering with Time Connectives
Time connectives make it easy for us to understand the order of when something happened. Often, time connectives are used in conjunction in long sentences to explain a series of events, for example:
Yesterday, I woke up at 8 o’clock, brushed my teeth, got dressed, went to school, and then played football with my friends. Finally, I had a bath and went to bed.
Time connectives are also used in this way in instructions to help us know in what order something needs to be done. In this example, time connectives head each step-by-step instruction for how to brush your teeth:
-
- Wet your toothbrush
- Next, put a pea-sized amount of toothpaste onto your toothbrush
- After this, brush your teeth for at least two minutes
- Finally, spit the toothpaste out and put your toothbrush away
