根據意思和作用的不同，過渡詞可以分為以下十五類：
(1)表並列關係的過渡詞: and, also, as well, as well as, or, too, not only…but also, both … and, either … or, neither…nor
(2)表遞進關係的過渡詞: besides, in addition(加之，除……之外), moreover(此外，而且), what’s more, what’s worse
(3)錶轉折對比的`過渡詞: but, however, yet, instead, on the other hand, on the contrary, although, different from, despite, in spite of, whereas, unlike, nevertheless, not only…but also, here…there, years ago…today, this…that, the former…the latter, then…now, the first… whereas the second, once…now, on the one hand…on the other hand, some…others
(4)表原因的過渡詞: because, because of, since, as, for, now that, thanks to, due to(由於)
(5)表結果的過渡詞: so, thus, therefore, as a result, so that, then, thereby, hence, so…that, such…that
(6)表條件的過渡詞: if, unless, on condition that, as/so long as
(7)表時間的過渡詞: when, while, after, before, until, as soon as, later, afterwards, soon, lately, recently, since, from then on, eventually, in the meantime, then, suddenly, at the same time, next, early this morning / year / century, after a while, in a few days, now, presently, finally, at last, all of a sudden, from now on, at present, immediately, the moment
(8)表特定的順序關係的過渡詞: first, firstly, second, secondly, third, thirdly, above all, first of all, then, next, finally, in the end, at last, afterward(s)(後來), meanwhile(幾乎同時), thereafter(在那以後), last, finally, eventually(終於)
(9)表換一種方式表達的過渡詞: in other words, that is to say, to put it another way
(10)表進行舉例說明的過渡詞: for instance, for example, like, such as
(11)表陳述事實的過渡詞: in fact, actually, as a matter of fact, to tell you the truth
(12)表強調的過渡詞: certainly, indeed, above all, surely, most important, in fact, no doubt, without any doubt, truly, obviously
(13)表比較的過渡詞： like, unlike, in the same way, similarly, similar to
(14)表目的的過渡詞： for this reason, for this purpose, so that, in order to, so as to
(15)表總結的過渡詞: in a word(總之，簡言言之), in general, in short(總之), above all, after all, generally speaking, to sum up, finally, in conclusion, at last, in summary
