SAT® · Reading and Writing: Expression of Ideas
However Versus Therefore
However signals that the next sentence reverses the direction the first one points; therefore signals that it follows straight from it as a consequence. Pick by tracing the logical arrow, not by how the sentences sound.
Every transition question is really one question: does sentence two continue the path sentence one set up, or does it cut against it? Therefore, consequently, and as a result all extend the arrow straight through — the second sentence is what the first one causes or implies. However, in contrast, and yet all bend the arrow back — the second sentence undercuts, surprises, or contradicts what the first one would lead you to expect. The swap happens because both words introduce a second sentence that arrives after the first, and a tired reader treats 'comes next' as 'follows from.' But sequence isn't logic. You have to ask what the first sentence predicts, then check whether the second sentence delivers that prediction or breaks it.
Work the soil-and-crop pair this way. Thin, poor soil predicts a weak crop. The second sentence reports a heavier crop instead. That's a broken prediction, so however fits, not therefore. Compare that to the tag-battery pair: short battery life is a constraint, and scheduling the cruise early is exactly the action that constraint forces — straight arrow, so therefore fits.
This same reversed-versus-straight test is what you'll reuse one block later, when you build a single sentence from bullet notes to hit a stated goal: you're still asking whether the pieces you're combining support each other or push against each other, just inside one sentence instead of across two.
Key terms
- contrast transition
- A connector such as however or in contrast that signals the next sentence reverses or undercuts the expectation set by the first.
- result transition
- A connector such as therefore or consequently that signals the next sentence follows as a consequence of the first.
- logical arrow
- The direction a sentence's claim points toward, which the next sentence either extends or reverses.
- coincidence transition
- A connector such as meanwhile that reports two things happening in the same period without claiming either caused the other.
Watch it explained
- How it worksHow does one of them reverse the arrow while the other extends it straight through?
- Worked exampleWalk me through a pair where 'The soil was poor' meets 'The crop still thrived' and one word fits.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't 'therefore' right just because a second sentence arrives later and sounds like a result?
Check yourself
End of topic.