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ACT® · Reading — Craft and Structure: Word Meanings and Word Choice

General Academic Vocabulary

Words like nevertheless, consequently, and conversely tell you the logical relationship between two ideas before you even read the second one. Spotting them lets you predict where a sentence is headed and map the passage's argument fast.

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A rare noun might cost you one unknown word. An academic transition word costs you the whole sentence that follows, because it names the move the writer is about to make. Nevertheless means a concession is about to be overridden. Consequently means a result is coming. Conversely means the next clause flips the one before it. These words are few, they repeat across every passage, and they work the same way every time. That reliability is exactly why they carry more weight than any single piece of vocabulary: they are instructions for reading, not just meanings to look up.

Each word makes a specific promise. Notwithstanding admits an obstacle and then says the main claim stands anyway, much like nevertheless. Consequently announces that what follows is caused by what came before: read it as an arrow pointing from cause to effect. Conversely announces a reversal: whatever was true of the first case will be turned around in the second. Once you catch the word, you can often guess the shape of the sentence before finishing it, which saves time and keeps you from losing the thread in a dense paragraph.

This is also why memorizing rare words is the wrong investment: those words show up once and often get defined by context anyway, while transition words appear in nearly every passage and never change their job. Catching them is the fastest way into a passage's structure. String together the admittedly, nevertheless, and consequently in a paragraph and you have its argument's skeleton: concession, override, conclusion, before you have pinned down a single technical term. That skeleton is what questions about structure and purpose are really asking you to find.

Key terms

transition word
A word or phrase that signals the logical relationship between two statements, such as contrast, cause, or concession.
concession
An admission of a weakness or opposing point that a writer makes before restating their main claim.
conversely
A transition signaling that the next clause reverses or opposes the case just described.
consequently
A transition signaling that the next statement is a result caused by what came before.
nevertheless
A transition signaling that a claim holds true despite a weakness or obstacle just admitted.

Watch it explained

  1. How it worksHow does an academic transition word signal the logical move a sentence is about to make?
  2. Worked exampleShow me what notwithstanding, consequently and conversely each promise about the next clause.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't memorizing rare vocabulary lists the efficient way to raise a reading score?
  4. Ties togetherHow does spotting an academic transition word feed straight into mapping a text's structure?

Check yourself

Your turneasy1 of 3
Informational passage: The alloy is 37 percent lighter than the steel it replaces and costs 6 times as much for each tonne. Racing builders adopted it within 7 years, since weight is what they sell. A racing frame is bought by a rider who will pay for anything that climbs faster. Conversely, the makers of touring frames, whose customers weigh a bicycle against its price, have stayed with steel. Consequently the alloy's share of the whole market has remained below 8 percent despite its clear advantage in one corner of it. Neither decision is a mistake. The word conversely tells the reader that the clause after it will:

End of topic.

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