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SAT Transitions: For Example vs In Other Words

For example and in other words both point backward at the previous sentence, which is why the SAT pairs them in the same question. One introduces a specific case of a general statement. The other restates the same idea in different words. Deciding which is happening settles the question.

The rule

Use for example when the next sentence is a specific case, and in other words when it restates the same idea at the same scope.

Use for example, for instance, and such as when the sentence that follows is narrower than the one before it: a single case, a named study, a specific number. If the previous sentence made a general claim about how a material behaves and the next sentence describes one test on one sample, that is an illustration.

Use in other words, that is, and put differently when the following sentence has the same scope as the previous one and simply says it again more plainly or more technically. Nothing new is added. A definition restated in simpler terms after a technical sentence is the clearest case.

Here is a test that works quickly. Ask whether the second sentence could be deleted without losing any information. If yes, because it repeats the first, the transition is a restatement. If no, because it supplies a specific instance you would otherwise not have, the transition is an example.

A third option often sits beside these two in the answer choices: a specification transition like specifically or more precisely. That one narrows the previous statement without giving a full example, as when a sentence about a region is followed by a sentence about one part of that region. It is between the two, and the SAT sometimes rewards that precision.

As with all transition questions, cover the choices and read the two sentences together first. Decide in your own words what the second sentence is doing to the first, then look for the transition that names that relationship. Judging transition words against each other without a prediction is what makes these feel like coin flips.

The trap

Labeling a restatement as an example because it sounds more specific, when it adds no new information.

Try it

Try one
Real question

Honeybees have no photoreceptor for red light and cannot distinguish a red blossom from the dark green leaves around it. ______, flowers that depend on bees for pollination are almost never pure red; they tend toward blue, violet, and yellow.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

Two teams sequenced the same Neanderthal finger bone and disagreed about how much of the genome was contamination from the people who handled it. The Leipzig group treated any fragment matching a modern European haplotype as suspect and discarded a tenth of its reads. ______, the Uppsala group kept every fragment and modelled contamination as a rate to be estimated afterwards, which left more data and a wider error bar around every result.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

  • A) In contrast, ✓
  • B) For instance,
  • C) Likewise,
  • D) Consequently,

Why: One team threw out suspect reads and the other kept them all, so a contrasting transition is needed. Result invents causation between two independent teams, and likeness and illustration both treat the second method as a version of the first. Consequently, is result, and the Leipzig method did not cause the Uppsala one. Likewise, is likeness, though discarding reads and keeping them are opposite choices. For instance, is illustration, which would make the Uppsala approach an instance of the Leipzig one.

Practice more of these free

Questions students ask

How do I tell an example from a restatement?

Ask whether the second sentence adds information. An example brings in a case, a number, or a name you did not have. A restatement covers exactly the same ground in different words, so deleting it would cost you nothing.

What does specifically mean compared with for example?

Specifically narrows a general statement to a more precise version of itself, while for example supplies an instance that illustrates it. If the second sentence is a sharper version of the first rather than a case of it, specifically is the better fit.

Guides that cover this

More on transition words