连接词是大学英语四六级写作通顺连贯的一个重要“桥梁”和“纽带”。根据语法中的平行和从属结构原则，一个复合句中至少要有一个连接词，否则这个句子是不符合语法规则的。众所周知，复合句运用的好坏与否直接影响着考生的作文分数的高低，因此广大考生应该高度重视连接词在写作中的作用。为此，老师将连接词的用法总结如下，以供考生参考学习。
　　一、表示因果关系的连接词
　　because (of ), since, for, as, due to, owing to, result in (from), on account of, as a result of, for the reason, consequently, as a consequence, accordingly, therefore, hence, consequently...
　　二、表示对比关系的连接词
　　instead, yet, however, whereas, nevertheless, in contrast, but, rather than, conversely, otherwise, on the contrary, likewise, similarly, in the same way, like, on the other hand...
　　三、表示举例关系的连接词
　　such as, for example, for instance, take...as an example, a case in point, namely, that is, like...
　　四、表示次序关系的连接词
　　in the first place, first of all, to begin with, initially, finally, to start with, what is more, furthermore, moreover, next, for another, besides, in addition to, first and foremost, last but not least...
　　五、表示总结关系的连接词
　　on the whole, to sum up, to conclude, in summary, in a word, on a large scale, in brief, in short, as far as I am concerned, to some extent, generally speaking, in a way, to take the idea further, as a rule, in terms of, in a sense...
　　六、表示让步关系的连接词
　　although, even though, in spite of , despite, even though, granted that...
　　七、表示时间方位关系的连接词
　　at last, immediately, in the meantime, lately, meanwhile, shortly, afterwards, presently, since, temporarily, after, while, when...
　　in (the) front of, in (the) back of, beyond, above, below, inside, outside, beside, on the left (right)...
　　以下面的范文为例，考生可体会一下连接词在整篇作文中的作用和用法。
　　As is vividly depicted in the picture, a young mother was holding her litter girl’s hand while three decades later（时间）, the grown-up daughter led her aged mom by（方式） the arm. The one thing（列举） that hasn’t changed is the smiles on（方位） the faces. The picture intends to draw people’s attention to the issue of empty nesters in China.
　　In recent days（时间）, it is not uncommon to see young people being busy with their all-consuming career while（对比）neglecting to accompany their lonely elderly parents. According to the sixth national census, at least 31 percent of Chinese households with old people are empty nesters. Therefore（因果）, it is high time for due attention to be given to the senior with families live apart from（方位）their offspring. To begin with（次序）, the young should do their best to keep in touch with their parents. Technological developments such as（列举）cell phones, text messaging, and（并列）the internet all allow for increased communication between parents and their children. What’s more（次序），laws, regulations and criteria regarding services for the elderly should also be improved.
　　To take the above opinion to an extreme（总结关系）, concerted efforts should be made to solve the issue of empty nesters.
　　由此篇范文可以看出，句子之间的连贯需要有连接词来构筑，复合句内部必须要有连接词。甚至段与段之间也需要连接词来加以练习，以达到通顺的效果。连接词体现的是句子内部和句子之间严谨的逻辑和论证推理关系，是英语语言的特色。