Transition Words and Definitions, Transition Words For Essays Transition words are words that connect two sentences, phrases, paragraphs. words such as ‘but’, ‘and’, ‘so’ are used to provide this connection. Transition words can connect anything from short phrases to paragraphs. Transition Word Types: Transition words are divided into different classes according to the type of transition we want to make. There are several words specific to each classification. Sometimes they have the same meanings and sometimes they have different meaning. Transitions also show the relationship between the main idea and the sentence (or in the paragraph) within the author’s necessary