96 Science Research Writing therefore the items in this group are sometimes used to communicate a possible causal relationship between events: Th e temperature dropped sharply when we reduced the pressure. 7) Th e seventh group marks the end of the sequence of events: At the end there was a noticeable drop in temperature. 8) Th e last group refers to events that occurred aft er you fi nished your experiment/simulation or aft er you fi nished observing the results: At the end there was a noticeable drop in temperature but it was decided aft erwards to omit it from the input data. Here is a list of the words and phrases that communicate sequence: aft er aft erwards as as soon as at fi rst at that point at the beginning at the end at the same time at the start beforehand before long earlier eventually fi nally fi rstly formerly immediately in advance in the beginning in the meantime in the end initially just then lastly later later on meanwhile next once originally previously prior to secondly shortly aft er simultaneously soon straight away subsequently then to begin with to start with towards the end upon when while Now put them into one (or more) of the appropriate groups. One example in each group has been entered in the box as a guide and some of the words or phrases can appear in more than one group.
Results — Grammar and Writing Skills 97 1. before the beginning beforehand 2. the beginning or fi rst step at the beginning 3. steps/order then 4. aft er a short while soon 5. at a late/later stage; aft er a while/longer period later 6. one point/period occurring almost or exactly at the same time as another when 7. the end or last step at the end aft erwards 8. aft er the end