French Connectors: Mais, Donc, Alors & the Words That Glue Sentences
B1In this article, you'll learn
Vocabulary makes sentences; connectors make paragraphs. These little linking words — mais, donc, alors, ensuite — are what turn choppy beginner French into flowing speech. Here are the ones that matter, in the order you’ll need them.
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The survival six
| Connector | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| et | and | Un café et un croissant. |
| mais | but | C’est cher, mais c’est bon. |
| ou | or | Thé ou café ? |
| donc | so / therefore | Je pense, donc je suis. |
| parce que | because | Je reste parce qu’il pleut. |
| alors | so / then | Alors, on commence ? |
Telling a story: the sequence set
D’abord (first), ensuite/puis (then), après (after), enfin (finally). Chain them and any anecdote holds together: « D’abord on a visité le Louvre, puis on a mangé, et enfin on est rentrés. » Pair them with the passé composé and you’re telling stories.
Sounding natural: the spoken glue
- du coup — “so/as a result”: the most overused (and most native) connector in modern spoken French.
- en fait — “actually”: softens corrections.
- bref — “anyway/in short”: rescues you from any story that’s gone on too long.
- par contre — “on the other hand”: the everyday contrast word.
Essay & exam connectors (DELF gold)
Writing for an exam? These structured connectors organise any argument and are exactly what DELF examiners reward:
| Role | Connectors |
|---|---|
| Introducing | tout d’abord, en premier lieu |
| Adding | de plus, en outre, par ailleurs |
| Contrasting | cependant, en revanche, néanmoins |
| Weighing | d’une part… d’autre part |
| Concluding | en conclusion, en somme, ainsi |
Sprinkle two per paragraph — not more — and pair with the DELF study plan.
Puis, ensuite, après: the sequence trio sorted
They all mean roughly “then/after”, with different jobs: puis is the light, quick link (« on a mangé, puis on est partis »); ensuite is its slightly fuller twin, happy to start a sentence (« Ensuite, on a visité le musée »); après needs care — alone it’s an adverb (« Après, on verra »), before a noun it’s a preposition (« après le dîner »), and with a verb it wants the past infinitive (« après avoir mangé »).
Your connector ladder, level by level
| Level | Own these |
|---|---|
| A1 | et, mais, ou, parce que |
| A2 | donc, alors, puis, ensuite, d’abord, enfin |
| B1 | pourtant, par contre, du coup, en fait, car |
| B2+ | cependant, néanmoins, en revanche, d’une part… d’autre part |
One new connector a week, used five times in real sentences, beats memorising the whole list. The complete ladder with audio: connectors chart.
FAQ
What is the difference between donc and alors?
They overlap. Donc leans logical (therefore); alors leans temporal/conversational (so, then, well). At B1, treat alors as the spoken default and donc for real cause-effect.
Is « car » the same as « parce que »?
Same meaning (because), different register: car is mostly written/formal and can’t start an answer. In speech, parce que wins.
Where can I level these up?
The full ladder — from et/mais to néanmoins and en revanche — is on the connectors chart, with per-level lessons and posters in the poster gallery.
Quick practice
Play the Quiztap to start · quick practice from this material
📊 Chart it: Practise them with audio and exercises: les connecteurs logiques.
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