Listing & Ordering 
Listing & Ordering 
1. What you say when ordering a group of things that you want to 
mention

firstly / first adverb used when mentioning the first in a list of reasons, arguments, or 
parts of an essay: 
 There are two main reasons why people choose this type of investment. Firstly, it is 
relatively safe. Secondly, it offers a good rate of interest.
 The  statistics show,	firstly, that  crime is increasing;  secondly, that most crime is 
committed by young men; and lastly, that many of these young men are on drugs.
 This essay seeks to  answer the following questions.  First, is our current political
system truly democratic? Second, what are the alternatives?

first of all used especially when the first thing that you mention is the most important
thing: 
 The content of the article must, first of all, be useful to the reader.
 People  are  living longer for several reasons.	First  of all, there have been enormous
advances in medical science. Secondly, our diets are now much healthier.

secondly  / second adverb  used when mentioning the second in a list of  reasons, 
arguments, or parts of an essay:
 Many people are  concerned about the  problems associated with  nuclear energy.
Firstly, what  do you do  with all the nuclear waste?  Secondly, how can we prevent 
nuclear materials from falling into the hands of terrorists? 

thirdly / third adverb used when mentioning the third in a list of reasons, arguments, 
or parts of an essay:
 There are many things we can do to help protect our environment. First of all, we can
use  our cars less. Secondly, we can  recyle more.	Thirdly, we need to  develop new
sources of energy which cause less pollution.

in the first /  second /  third place  means the same  as	firstly,	secondly  or 
thirdly, but is less formal. It is used especially when giving reasons or examples:


 Modern  communications have completely changed  the way we work.	In the first 
place, they have made it possible for many people to work from home. They also allow
people in different parts of the world to communicate instantly at any time of day.

STUDY NOTE: Grammar 
When you are  giving a long list of reasons or  parts in an essay,  it sounds rather 
repetitive to say Firstly... Secondly... Thirdly ... Fourthly... Fifthly etc. It sounds much 
more natural to vary the language and use  other phrases instead of  numbers, for
example In addition ... Furthermore/moreover ... Lastly ...
Here is an  example of  this kind  of  ordering: There are  many reasons for switching to
wind power.	Firstly, it causes much  less damage to  the environment than fossil fuels
such as oil and coal. In addition, wind power comes from a renewable energy source,
and there will always be more wind available. Furthermore, wind turbines and windmills
are much more graceful and attractive to look at than power stations. Last but not least, 
they are very cheap to run. 

then / next adverb used when saying what happens next in a process:

 First, we added the salt to the water, then we boiled the mixture for five minutes. 
 Take the fish and gently rub oil over it.	Next, place  it in  a medium hot  oven for 15 
minutes.
 When you receive the equipment, you need to check that all the parts are there. Then
you need to connect it to the electricity supply.

in addition as well as what you have already mentioned:

 Fast foods and snacks have been linked to obesity.  In addition, studies have shown
that these foods can cause behavioural problems in young children.

furthermore / moreover	adverb  as well as what you have  already mentioned. 
These are formal words  which are used especially when suggesting that what  you are
saying is just as important or even more important than what you have already said:
 In order to keep the price of the book down, we have used fewer photographs than we 
wanted  to.  Furthermore, the  book has no  colour, which means that we have  been
limited to black and white images.
 Older workers  often have a great deal of experience to offer.	Moreover,  they are
extremely reliable and less likely to change jobs.

lastly adverb used when something is the last of the things that you want to mention:

 The island has become very popular, firstly for its beautiful beaches, secondly because
of its friendly atmosphere, and lastly because it is so easy to get to from the UK. 
 There are  many reasons why prison  doesn't work. First of  all, prisons often act as 
training colleges for criminals. Secondly, prison  does not  deal with the  reasons why

young men commit  crime.	Lastly, it costs  huge amounts  of money  to keep people  in 
prison.

finally adverb used when something is the last thing that you want to say, especially at
the end of  a long essay,  report etc. You  also use	finally  when giving the last reason,
example etc in a long list:
 Finally, I would like to suggest some possible solutions to the problem.

one last / final point used when you want to add one last thing to what you have 
already said, for example at the end of the final paragraph of your essay: 
	One  final point  to  remember is that  although regular exercise is usually good for 
health, too much exercise can actually cause permanent damage to muscles and joints.



2. Ways of introducing a list of reasons, causes, points etc

there are several / there are a number of  used when you are going to list 
several reasons, causes, points etc:
 There are several points to keep in mind when writing business letters: try to be brief, 
always be polite, and make sure that you use the correct job title. 
 Women are more  likely  to suffer from  depression than  men.  There are  a  number of
reasons for this.

STUDY NOTE: Grammar 
When  you are  introducing a list, you can either use a colon (:) before the list,  or a full
stop (.).

as follows used when introducing a list or an explanation: 

 The objectives  of the study  are	as follows: firstly to find out whether  there  was a 
demand for this type of service, and secondly to establish how much people were willing 
to pay for it.
 The  facts  are  as follows. Kennedy was shot by a lone gunman  named  Lee Harvey 
Oswald. While Oswald was being held in custody, he was shot by Jack Ruby. 

the following adjective, noun [singular] used when  referring  to the things or people 
that you are going to mention:
 The following foods are high in fat: butter, cream, cheese, pastry, and any kind of fried
food. 
	The following  is a brief summary of the main sources  of grants for postgraduate
students.


STUDY NOTE: Grammar 
Following  can  be  used as an  adjective, for example: the following  example,  or as a
noun, for example: Benefits include the following.
