PTE Connectors PDF 2026: 200 Linking Words for 79+

Introduction

If your PTE writing score is stuck between 65 and 78, the single fastest lever you have is your PTE connectors. Pearson's AI engine rewards essays, summaries, and spoken responses that show controlled, varied discourse markers — and it penalises the same five linking words used over and over. Most Nepali test-takers know words like however, moreover, and in conclusion. That vocabulary is the floor, not the ceiling.

This guide is the article version of our free 200-phrase PTE linking words PDF — a cheatsheet built specifically for Nepali students targeting Australia PR 79+, AHPRA 76 for nurses, Canada PR via PTE Core, and university admission abroad. We group every connector into five categories (contrast, addition, cause and effect, example, conclusion), show 8 to 12 sample phrases from each category, and explain exactly where to deploy them in essay, Summarize Written Text (SWT), Summarize Spoken Text (SST), Re-tell Lecture, and Respond to a Situation.

Use this article when you are drilling for a retake, building an essay template, or stuck on Speaking fluency because your transitions sound robotic. The full 200-phrase PTE transition words PDF is linked in the conclusion — print it, keep it on your desk, and rotate through it every practice session for two weeks. The score lift is real and measurable.

Why Connectors Move the Score Needle in Every PTE Task

Pearson's scoring rubric rewards "linguistic range" — the technical name for using varied vocabulary, grammar structures, and discourse markers. Connectors are the most visible signal of linguistic range because the AI engine sees them in almost every sentence boundary. When you repeat the same three linking words in a 200-word essay, the engine reads that as low range and caps your enabling skills score around 65.

The opposite is also true. When you rotate through 15 to 20 different connectors across an essay — drawn from different categories and registers — you signal control. That single behaviour is the difference between a 65 enabling skills score and a 79+ band. The same logic applies to Speaking: in Re-tell Lecture and Respond to a Situation, varied transitions lift your "oral fluency" and "content" sub-scores together.

Use these PTE linking words deliberately. Do not stuff them. The goal is two to three different connectors per paragraph, not one per sentence.