Most transition words for a conclusion do one of four jobs, and the job you need depends on what kind of ending you are writing. “In summary” collects; “therefore” concludes; “on balance” weighs; “going forward” projects. Picking a phrase from the wrong group is how a conclusion ends up saying “in summary” and then arguing something new, or saying “therefore” before a plain restatement.
This page sorts the phrases by job first. General transitions for the body of an essay are a different topic and live in Transition Words That Actually Guide Your Reader; everything here is about the ending.
The four jobs a concluding transition can do
| Job | What the paragraph is about to do | Sample phrases |
|---|---|---|
| Collect | Restate or gather the main points | taken together, in short, all told |
| Conclude | Draw the consequence of the argument | therefore, for these reasons, it follows that |
| Weigh | Set the sides against each other and decide | on balance, weighed against, with that in mind |
| Project | Turn from the argument to what should happen next | from here, the next step, if this holds |
A fifth group, the pure announcers (in conclusion, to conclude, finally, lastly), only mark position. They tell the reader the paragraph is the last one and nothing else. That is why they feel empty in a revised essay: the reader already knew.
Lists by function
Collecting: summing up the argument
Use when the first sentence of the conclusion restates the thesis or gathers the body paragraphs into one statement.
- Taken together
- All told
- In short
- In sum
- Put simply
- Seen as a whole
- Read side by side, these
- Across all three cases
- What these examples share is
- The pattern in each of these is
“Taken together” and “across all three cases” are stronger than “in summary” because they name the operation: the reader is being asked to hold the body paragraphs in mind at once.
Concluding: drawing the consequence
Use when the conclusion states what the evidence proves or what the reader should now accept.
- Therefore
- For these reasons
- It follows that
- The evidence points one way
- Given all this
- This leaves one explanation
- Which is why
- Hence (formal; use sparingly)
- Consequently
- The result is
“For these reasons” is the safest of the group because it points backward to specific paragraphs. “Therefore” is fine when the logic is tight; when it is not, “therefore” makes the gap obvious.
Weighing: setting sides against each other
Use in argumentative and compare-contrast essays where the conclusion has to acknowledge the other side before deciding.
- On balance
- Weighed against
- Even allowing for
- Granting the objection
- With the costs counted
- Set beside
- When the two are compared
- Whatever its drawbacks
- Despite the exceptions
- The stronger case remains
These phrases are the natural home for the last mention of the counterargument. A conclusion that ends an argumentative essay without a weighing phrase often reads as if the other side was never taken seriously; Counterargument and Rebuttal covers the body-paragraph version of that move.
Projecting: looking past the essay
Use in the final one or two sentences when the essay proposes action, predicts, or points to what remains open.
- From here
- The next step
- If this holds
- What remains is
- Going forward (overused; see below)
- The question that follows
- Until that changes
- The test will be
- Whether that happens depends on
- The place to start is
Projecting transitions belong at the end of the conclusion, not the start. A conclusion that opens with “going forward” has skipped the summing-up and the reader has to reconstruct it.
Restating without repeating
These are not transitions in the strict sense, but they open a restated thesis so it does not read as a copy of the introduction.
- The case for X, then, rests on
- What this essay has shown is
- The argument comes down to
- Stripped to its core
- If the three points above are right
- The claim was that X; the evidence bears it out
Five sample final paragraphs
Each sample marks its transitions in bold and notes what they do. The topics are invented.
1. Argumentative essay (weigh, then project)
On balance, the case for a later school start time survives its strongest objection. Bus schedules and after-school jobs are real costs, and the essay has not pretended otherwise; they are also solvable costs, while adolescent sleep loss is not. Weighed against a measurable drop in first-period absences, a rearranged bus route is a small price. The next step is not another study but a one-year trial in the district that already has the data to measure it.
“On balance” opens the weighing, “weighed against” completes it, “the next step” projects. No announcer needed; the position and the content make it a conclusion.
2. Expository essay (collect, then conclude)
Taken together, the three stages of a sourdough starter explain why the bread cannot be rushed. Wild yeast needs time to reach the population that raises dough; bacteria need time to build the acid that gives the crumb its taste; and the two only settle into a stable ratio after several feedings. Which is why every shortcut recipe either adds commercial yeast or produces a loaf that is sour without being risen. The slowness is the recipe.
“Taken together” gathers three body paragraphs. “Which is why” draws the consequence. The last sentence closes without any transition, which is usually the strongest way to end.
3. Literary analysis (restate, then conclude)
The argument comes down to one habit of the narrator: she corrects small details and never large ones. Wallpaper, the number of chairs, the color of a coat, all revised; the fire, never. It follows that the novel is not withholding the truth about the fire so much as training us to notice she is not revising it. The stronger reading, then, is that the ending reveals nothing the narration had not already told us how to doubt.
“The argument comes down to” restates without copying the thesis. “It follows that” is the logical hinge. “The stronger reading, then” weighs the interpretation against the obvious one.
4. Compare-and-contrast essay (collect, weigh)
Read side by side, the two memoirs handle grief in opposite directions. Didion catalogs, Lewis argues; one wants to hold the loss still, the other wants to fight it to a conclusion. Set beside each other, neither method looks like the right one. What they share is the refusal to console, and that refusal, not the method, is what makes both books last.
Two collecting transitions and one weighing phrase. Note that “what they share is” turns the comparison toward the thesis instead of simply listing differences again.
5. Persuasive essay (conclude, then project)
For these reasons, free bus fare is a downtown policy disguised as a transit policy. It puts people on sidewalks in front of stores, it removes the one cost that keeps hourly workers from taking a shift across town, and it costs less than a single parking garage. If this holds, the question is not whether the city can afford it but which council member will put it on the agenda first.
“For these reasons” points to three body paragraphs. “If this holds” opens the projection and hands the reader a concrete next move.
For the shape of a persuasive ending as a whole, not only its connectors, How to Write a Persuasive Essay Conclusion That Sticks builds one from restated thesis to last line.
Transitions to avoid, and what to use instead
“In conclusion”
The problem is not that it is wrong; it is that it is empty. It announces the paragraph’s position and says nothing about the paragraph’s relationship to the argument. Every reader has seen it a thousand times, and graders of revised work treat it as a sign the writer stopped thinking at the last paragraph.
- Swap for: Taken together (if summing up), For these reasons (if concluding), On balance (if weighing).
- Keep it if: you are writing a timed exam and want the grader to find the conclusion in one second.
“In summary” / “To summarize” / “To sum up”
Accurate only if the conclusion is a summary, which is the least interesting thing a conclusion can be. If you must summarize, “in short” is faster and less bureaucratic.
“Finally” / “Lastly”
These mark the last item in a list, not the last paragraph in an essay. A conclusion is not the fourth body paragraph. Use them inside a paragraph to close a sequence; do not use them to open the conclusion.
“As I have shown” / “As you can see”
Both ask the reader to take the writer’s word that the argument worked. If the essay showed it, the conclusion does not need to say so; if it did not, the phrase draws attention to the gap. Replace with a restated claim: “The three cases above point one way.”
“Going forward” / “Moving forward”
Business-meeting language that has leaked into essays. “From here” or “the next step” says the same thing without the boardroom tone.
“All in all” / “At the end of the day” / “When all is said and done”
Conversational fillers. They mean “on balance” but with less precision. Use “on balance.”
“It is clear that” / “Obviously”
If it were clear, you would not need the phrase. If it is not, the phrase reads as bluffing. Delete and state the claim.
Two versions of the same conclusion
Before (transitions doing no work):
In conclusion, as I have shown, later school start times are a good idea. To summarize, students are tired, buses can be rescheduled, and attendance would improve. All in all, the benefits outweigh the costs. Going forward, districts should consider this option.
Four transitions, four sentences, and none of the transitions tells the reader anything the sentence itself did not. The paragraph also restates the body without weighing anything.
After (two transitions, each with a job):
On balance, the case for a later start time survives its strongest objection. Bus schedules can be moved; adolescent sleep cannot. Weighed against a measurable drop in first-period absences, a rearranged route is a small price, and the district that already collects attendance data is the place to run the first trial.
Two transitions. The first opens a judgment; the second completes it. The projection at the end needs no connector because the sentence carries it.
Placement inside the conclusion
Where the transition sits changes what it does.
- First word of the paragraph: marks the shift from body to conclusion and names the operation (collect, conclude, weigh). One is enough.
- Between the restated thesis and the final thought: marks the turn from what was argued to what it means. “Which is why,” “what remains is,” “the next step.”
- Last sentence: almost never. The final sentence of an essay is strongest without a connector; a transition there makes the ending feel like it is still in transit.
Quick checklist
- Does the opening transition name a job (collect, conclude, weigh, project), or only a position?
- Does the paragraph actually do what the transition promises? “Therefore” needs a consequence; “on balance” needs two sides.
- No more than two transitions in the paragraph.
- No “in conclusion,” “in summary,” “as I have shown,” or “going forward” in a revised essay.
- No “finally” or “lastly” as the paragraph opener.
- The last sentence stands without a connector.
- Read the conclusion’s first sentence after the last body paragraph’s last sentence: does the join feel like a step, or a jump?
If it feels like a jump, the fix is usually not a bigger transition but a better final body paragraph: one that ends close enough to the thesis that the conclusion can pick it up in a single phrase.
Frequently asked questions
Is it wrong to start a conclusion with “In conclusion”?
It is not wrong, and in a timed exam it is a safe choice that graders recognize instantly. It is weak in an essay you have time to revise, because it announces the ending instead of making it. Readers can see the last paragraph coming; a phrase that only says “this is the last paragraph” does no other work. Replace it with a transition that also states a relationship, such as “Taken together” or “Given all this.”
Do I need a transition word at the start of the conclusion at all?
No. A conclusion can open with a restated thesis, a callback to the introduction, or a short declarative sentence and still be clearly a conclusion, because its position and its content signal the ending. Use a transition when the first sentence would otherwise feel abrupt or when you need to mark a logical move like summing up or weighing sides.
Can I use the same concluding transition in a body paragraph’s last sentence?
Many of them, yes. Phrases like “as a result,” “for that reason,” and “on balance” close a body paragraph just as well as they open a conclusion. Avoid “in conclusion,” “in summary,” and “to sum up” inside the body, because they tell the reader the essay is ending when it is not, and the actual ending then has to find a different phrase.
How many transition words should a conclusion contain?
One or two. A five-sentence conclusion with a transition at the start of every sentence reads as a list of connectors with nothing connected. Put one at the opening if you need it, perhaps one before the final thought, and let the sentences in between follow each other on their own logic.