Use the word contain in a sentence

Synonym: comprise, consist of, control, curb, hold, include, involve, restrain. Similar words: container, maintain, confrontation, on the contrary, retain, obtain, sustain, certain. Meaning: [kən’teɪn]  v. 1. include or contain; have as a component 2. contain or hold; have within 3. lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits 4. be divisible by 5. be capable of holding or containing 6. hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or influence of. 

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1. I am a does not contain any additives lunatic.

2. Most wines contain between 10% and 15% alcohol.

3. All natural minerals contain impurities.

4. Nebulae contain very large amounts of ionized gas.

5. Some mushrooms contain a deadly poison.

6. Fruit juices contain natural sugars.

7. Our products contain no artificial preservatives or colourings.

8. He could hardly contain his fury.

9. This drink doesn’t contain any alcohol.

10. The regional editions of the paper contain specific information for that area.

11. To explain this, they hypothesise that galaxies must contain a great deal of missing matter which cannot be detected.

12. This brand of tinned food does not contain artificial coloring.

13. Doctors are struggling to contain the epidemic.

14. It might contain something of value.

15. Her blood was found to contain poison.

16. The records contain the bank details of all employees.

17. UN peacekeepers are struggling to contain the escalating violence.

18. Most fertilizers contain nitrogen and phosphates.

18. Sentencedict.com try its best to collect and build good sentences.

19. Tomorrow’s papers will contain full details of the case.

20. He struggled to contain his resentment.

21. The liquid was found to contain 7.4g of phenylamine.

22. The little boy couldn’t contain his urine any longer.

23. What does that box contain?

24. Magazines often contain caricatures of well-known film stars.

25. Does the sentence contain an adverb?

26. Government forces have failed to contain the rebellion.

27. Butter and cream contain a lot of saturated fats.

28. Please contain your enthusiasm for a moment.

29. Some magazines contain nothing but scandal and gossip.

30. The food was analysed root and branch and found to contain small amounts of poison.

More similar words: container, maintain, confrontation, on the contrary, retain, obtain, sustain, certain, curtain, captain, uncertain, for certain, certainly, retaining, sustainable, certainly not, uncertainty, control, contest, context, contend, confront, contract, continue, contrast, continent, continued, contribute, entertainment, constraint. 

Definition of Contain

to hold or enclose

Examples of Contain in a sentence

The gardens on the northside contain roses, lilies, as well as some beautiful wildflowers.

 🔊

We think that the old trunk might contain valuable treasure, but must find a way to open the lock to be sure.

 🔊

The puzzle boxes contain hundreds of pieces that must be put together to create the perfect picture.

 🔊

Coffee and tea both contain caffeine but have fewer calories than soda.

 🔊

The dish might contain peanuts, so you shouldn’t eat it if you have a nut allergy.

 🔊

Other words in the Neutral category:

Most Searched Words (with Video)

Your implementation is sound but uses an Exhaustive or Brute-Force Search algorithm with your KeyValue object instead of a faster matching algorithm such as Hashing with a HashMap or Hashtable object.

Assumptions

  • You have 10,000 mapped words.
  • You are attempting to match those words against an English sentence or phrase such as «The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog«

The Problem

Your logic, as it is written, will perform a brute-force search attempting a possible 10,000 matches for each word in your sentence. Using the phrase given above will create (10,000) x (9) = 90,000 maximum attempts if each word in the sentence does not exist within your KeyValue object.

This logic creates a worst-case, or Big-O, performance hit of Θ(n) where n represents the number of words in your list. This is called a linear search. A lazy improvement to this method would be to use a sorted list, granting you a better Θ(log(n)) logarithmic search time.

The Fix

Instead of performing your brute-force search, use a hashing algorithm that will perform lookups on whole words at a time; or, if you want to perform pattern matching with character shifting, look at the Rabin—Karp Hash Algorithm. In the simplified case of just matching whole words, your algorithm will break down your sentence’s words into tokens (like you have now), and then use a hash function lookup against your hashmap of values and associated categories.

Your new logic will carry a Big-O performance of Θ(1). This constant-time matching will greatly improve the speed of your application.

Pseudocode

// Adapting your KeyValue into a simple <Value, Key> map e.g. <"football", "sports">
//HashMap<String, String> map = new HashMap<String, String>();

// Adapting your KeyValue into a <Value, Set<Key>> map for multiple 
//    category keys e.g. <"football", <"sports","sunday","games">>
HashMap<String, Set<String>> map = new HashMap<String, Set<String>>();

// build the hashmap with your values and categories
Set<String> categories = new HashSet<String>();
categories.add("sports");
categories.add("sunday");
categories.add("games");
map.put("football", categories);
...

// sanitize your input
String lc = filteredText.toLowerCase();
lc = FormatUtil.replaceEnglishSymbolsWithSpace(lc);

// tokenize your sentence
String[] tokens = lc.split("\s");
...

// search tokens against your hashmap
for (String token : tokens) {

    // search the token against the hashmap
    if (map.containsKey(token)){
        Set<String> cats = map.get(token);
        ...
    } else {
        ...
    }
}

Using transition words in your writing can help you enhance the readability of your content. These words help your text flow and show readers the relationship between phrases and paragraphs. That’s why the readability checks in Yoast SEO provide feedback on your use of transition words. But what are they exactly? Why are they so important? And how should you use them?

Table of contents

  • What are transition words?
  • Exploring transition words with an example
  • Types of transition words
  • Why are they important for SEO?
  • What does the transition words check in Yoast SEO do?
  • How to improve your use of transition words
    • 1. Know the words
    • 2. Be aware of how your thoughts and ideas relate to each other
  • Conclusion

What are transition words?

Transition words are words like ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’ and ‘because’. They show your reader the relationship between phrases, sentences, or even paragraphs. When you use them, you make it easier for your readers to understand how your thoughts and ideas are connected. What is more, they prepare your reader for what’s coming. 

Let’s consider an example.

I pushed the domino. As a result, it fell over.

When you start a sentence with ‘as a result’, your reader will immediately know two things:

  1. What happened in the first sentence caused something;
  2. The second sentence is going to describe the effect.

By using the phrase ‘as a result’ here, you show that the two separate sentences are part of one process. Without having even read the rest of the sentence, your reader can already guess what’s coming. In a way, transition words are the glue that holds your text together. Without them, your text is a collection of sentences. With them, the individual parts come together to form one whole.

Transition words don’t always have to be placed at the beginning of a sentence. Consider the following examples.

He’s a very nice guy. He took us out to dinner yesterday, for instance.


In this example, ‘for instance’ is placed at the end of the sentence. Nonetheless, it still provides the reader with information as to how the two sentences are related.

I enjoy his company because he always tells interesting stories.

In this example, ‘because’ doesn’t connect two sentences, but two clauses. Transition words can connect anything from short phrases to entire paragraphs.

Did you get a red or orange bullet for your use of transition words? Jump to the section about the Yoast SEO transition words check. Or go straight to learning how you can improve your use of transition words.

Exploring transition words with an example

Let’s use a more concrete example. Below, you see Text A and Text B. Text A contains no transition words. On the surface, Text B is the exact same, only we’ve added transition words to make it easier to read.

Text A
I’m going to discuss a few reasons why practice is important to learning skills. The only way to truly master a skill is by actually doing what you’ll have to do in the real world. I think practice can be a fun way of putting in the necessary hours. There are some people who will disagree. It is said that people tend to remember only 10-20% of what they’ve heard or read. That number rises to as much as 90% when you put theory to practice. Following up explanation with practice is key to mastering a skill.

Text B
In this paragraph, I’m going to discuss a few reasons why practice is important to mastering skills. Firstly, the only way to truly learn a skill is by actually doing what you’ll have to do in the real world. Secondly, I think practice can be a fun way of putting in the necessary hours. There are, however, some people who will disagree. Thirdly, and most importantly, it is said that people tend to remember only 10-20% of what they read or hear. Moreover, that number rises to as much as 90% when you put theory to practice. In conclusion, following up explanation with practice is key to mastering a skill.


Text A is not a terrible paragraph. However, the differences are clear as day. Text B does a better job of showing there are three separate arguments to support the statement with a definite conclusion. The reader never has to wonder whether a sentence still belongs to the previous argument or a new one. Moreover, it even shows the relationship between sentences within one argument. Therefore, people are going to find it easier to read this text and will stay on the page longer. And this is just one short, conveniently arranged paragraph!

Types of transition words

Transition words can be divided into several categories, based on the type of transition you want to make. There are often several words available for one transition. Sometimes they mean exactly the same, sometimes there are slight differences. If you’re not a native speaker or struggle with language in general, you’ll have to study and practice their use so that you can make better choices.

Transition Example word/phrase Example sentence
Cause and effect Therefore, as a result, so, consequently I’m tired. Therefore, I’m going to bed.
Clarification That is to say, in other words, to clarify We’re letting you go. In other words, you’re fired.
Contrast But, however, on the other hand I am not fond of fruit. However, I do like bananas.
Example For example, for instance In the evening, I like to relax. For instance, I enjoy watching TV.
Emphasis Above all, most importantly, certainly There are many reasons to exercise regularly. Above all, it keeps you healthy.
Enumeration Firstly/secondly, further, and, moreover, in addition Today, I’m going to write a post. In addition, I’m recording some video lessons.
Time Meanwhile, during, subsequently, after that I’ll start by telling you what transition words are. After that, I’ll tell you why you should always use them.
Similarity Likewise, similarly, in the same vein She tried really hard to entertain her guests. Similarly, he put all his heart and soul in cooking a great dinner.
Summarize/conclude In conclusion, to sum up, in short In conclusion, transition words are an important aspect of SEO copywriting.
Table 1: transition words with example sentences

Check out this article for transition words in other languages.

Why are they important for SEO?

Transition words make it easier to read and understand a text. And readability is very important for SEO. Although they don’t influence your SEO directly, they are one of the key factors to readability.

Transition words also play a crucial role in structuring your text. This leads to a better understanding of your text by your readers. A well-structured text helps to attract readers to your blog and contributes to SEO!

What does the transition words check in Yoast SEO do?

The transition words check in Yoast SEO assesses whether or not you use enough transition words. If at least 30% of the sentences in your text contain a transition word, the bullet will be green. You get an orange bullet if you use them in more than 20%, or in less than 30% of your sentences. The bullet will be red if less than 20% of the sentences of your text contain a transition word. That’s less than 1 in 5 sentences.

Want to read more on how we came to the exact measurements of the transition words check and of the other readability checks? Check out our article about the methodological choices of the readability analysis.

Want to find out which transition words Yoast SEO recognizes? Check out our article on transition words in your language.

How to improve your use of transition words

There are several potential problem areas when it comes to transition words. Let’s start with the good news: everyone uses them in some way. There are very few authors who never use the words ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’, and the like. Using them correctly or frequently enough, however, doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Using transition words successfully requires a couple of things. You have to:

  1. Know the transition words;
  2. Have a clear idea of the relationships between separate thoughts and ideas within your text;
  3. Know how to apply transition words properly and in context;

1. Know the words

Actually knowing the transition words is most commonly a problem for non-native speakers. However, many native speakers could also benefit from studying the less frequent ones. In any case, it is easy to do. You simply look up a list of transition words and study their definitions. Don’t underestimate it either, though! They are often quite nuanced and really depend on context.

2. Be aware of how your thoughts and ideas relate to each other

In the blog post assignments people hand in for feedback in our SEO training courses, we see a clear pattern. People who have a better idea of the structure of their text also use more transition words and do it more effectively. Too often, people just start writing and then basically just see what happens. So what can you do?

Break your text down into an introduction, body, and conclusion, and make sure you know what goal every paragraph serves. Then, survey your text on a sentence level. Find opportunities to make transitions that make sense. If you struggle with this, try reading texts by other authors and see how they use transition words.

Want to learn more about transition words and how to write great content? Our SEO Copywriting course can help you with that. You can get access to this course and all of our other SEO courses with Yoast SEO Premium, which also gives you access to extra features in the Yoast SEO plugin.

Go Premium and get free access to our SEO courses!

Learn how to write great content for SEO and unlock lots of features with Yoast SEO Premium:

Or if you’re on Shopify and want to work on the readability and SEO of your website, check out our Yoast SEO for Shopify app.

Conclusion

Transition words are very important for the readability of your text. However, many people struggle with them. If you do, study them and make sure you practice a lot. Our SEO Copywriting training can help you with that. In addition, make sure you’re aware of the structure of your text. In this way, it will be easier to pick the best transition words available.

Read more: How to use the readability analysis in Yoast SEO »

Marieke is the head of strategy at Yoast and founder of Yoast SEO academy. She loves coming up with new ideas and products to make SEO attainable for everyone, and ensure a healthy growth for Yoast!

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Adverbs can take different positions in a sentence. It depends on the type of sentence and on what role the adverb plays and what words the adverb defines, characterizes, describes.

Most often, we put adverbs after the verb but before adjectives, other adverbs, or participles.

She walked quickly away.
He runs slowly along.

A rule that explains where an adverb is in a sentence.

Place of adverbs in a sentence.

Adverb and three main positions

There are three main positions for an adverb in a sentence:

  • before the verb
  • at the beginning of a sentence
  • at the end of a sentence
Three positions of adverbs in an English sentence.
Adverbs in a sentence.

Let’s look at these positions separately.

At the end

We put an Adverb at the end of a sentence after the predicate and the object.

The water is rising fast.

At the beginning

We put an adverb at the beginning of a sentence before the subject.

Today I have a piano lesson.

An example of a sentence using the adverb today, hands playing the piano.
Today

In the middle

Most often, we put an adverb in the middle of a sentence. But “middle” is not an accurate concept. Where exactly this middle is located, it depends on the words next to which we use the adverb.

  1. In interrogative sentences, we put an adverb between the subject and the main verb.

Did he often go out like that?

  1. If the predicate in the sentence is only one verb, then we put the adverb before the verb.

You rarely agree with me.

  1. If the predicate contains more than one word, then we put the adverb after the modal verb or after the auxiliary verb (if there is a modal verb or auxiliary verb).

You must never do this again.

There are adverbs that we can put before a modal verb or an auxiliary verb.

He surely can prepare for this.

Adverb placement depending on the type of adverb

The place of an adverb depends on what type of adverbs it belongs to. Different adverbs can appear in different places.

Adverbs of manner

We usually use Adverbs of manner:

  • before main verbs
  • after auxiliary verbs
  • at the end of the sentence
  1. If the verb is in the Passive Voice, then we use an adverb between the auxiliary verb and the verb in the third form.
  2. We usually use Adverbs of manner after the verb or after the Object.
  3. We can NOT use an Adverb of manner between the verb and direct object. If the sentence has a verb and a direct object, then we use an adverb of manner before the verb or after the object.
  4. Usually we put an adverb of manner that answers the question HOW after the verb or after the verb and the object.

She held the baby gently.
We are running slowly.

  1. We usually put the adverbs well, fast, quickly, immediately, slowly at the end of a sentence.

I wrote him an answer immediately.
The truck picked up speed slowly.

Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency are adverbs that indicate how often, with what frequency an action occurs.

Adverbs of frequency answer the question “How often?

  1. Most often we put Adverbs of frequency before the main verb.
  2. We can use normally, occasionally, sometimes, usually at the beginning of a sentence or at the end of a sentence.
  3. We usually put Adverbs of frequency that accurately describe the time (weekly, every day, every Saturday) at the end of a sentence.

We have another board meeting on Monday.
I wish we could have fried chicken every week.
Maybe we could do this every month.

  1. We put Adverbs of frequency after the verb to be if the sentence contains the verb to be in the form of Present Simple or Past Simple.

My routine is always the same.

  1. We often use usually, never, always, often, sometimes, ever, rarely in the middle of a sentence.

I often wish I knew more about gardening.

  1. We can use usually at the beginning of a sentence.

Usually, I keep it to myself.

Adverbs of degree

Adverbs of degree express the degree to which something is happening. These are such adverbs as:

  • almost
  • absolutely
  • completely
  • very
  • quite
  • extremely
  • rather
  • just
  • totally
List of adverbs of degree.
Adverbs of the degree.
  1. We put Adverbs of degree in the middle of a sentence.
  2. We put Adverbs of degree after Auxiliary Verbs.
  3. We put Adverbs of degree after modal verbs.

I feel really guilty about that.

  1. We put Adverbs of degree before adjectives.

When guns speak it is too late to argue.

  1. We put Adverbs of degree before other adverbs.

He loses his temper very easily.

  1. Sometimes we put Adverbs of degree before modal verbs and before auxiliary verbs. Usually, we use such adverbs as:
  • certainly
  • definitely
  • really
  • surely

You definitely could have handled things better.
I think I really could have won.

The rule explains the place of the adverb enough in a sentence.
Adverb enough.
  1. The adverb enough is an exception to this rule. We put the Adverb enough after the word it characterizes.

I have lived long enough.

Adverbs of place and time

Let’s see where we use the adverbs of place and adverbs of time.

  1. Most often we put the adverb of place and time at the end of the sentence.

I thought you didn’t have family nearby.
They found her place in Miami yesterday.

  1. We put monosyllabic adverbs of time (for example, such as now, then, soon) before main verbs but after auxiliary verbs including the verb to be.

Now imagine you see another woman.
Yes, he is now a respectable man.

  1. We can use adverbs of place and time at the very beginning of a sentence when we want to make the sentence more emotional.

Today, we have to correct his mistakes.

  1. We put the adverbs here and there at the end of the sentence.

Independent thought is not valued there.

  1. Most often we put adverbs of place and time after the verb or verb + object.

I can’t change what happened yesterday.
You have to attend my wedding next month.

  1. Most often we put such adverbs as towards, outside, backward, everywhere, nearby, downstairs, southward, at the end of the sentence or in the middle of the sentence, but immediately after the verb.

I made iced tea and left it downstairs.
With this speaker, you can hear everything outside.
I can run backward!

  1. We put adverbs of time that accurately define the time (for example, yesterday, now, tomorrow) at the end of the sentence.

The ship is going to be back tomorrow.

He wants it to happen now.

If we want to emphasize time, we can put an adverb that accurately specifies the time at the beginning of the sentence.

Tomorrow I’m moving to Palais Royal.

Adverbs that show the speaker’s degree of confidence.

Let’s talk about the place in the sentence occupied by Adverbs that show the speaker’s degree of confidence in what the speaker is saying.

  1. We can put at the beginning of the sentence such adverbs as:
  • definitely
  • perhaps
  • probably
  • certainly
  • clearly
  • maybe
  • obviously

Certainly, you have an opinion about that.

Definitely think twice before correcting one of your mistakes again.

Maybe someone else was in her apartment that night.

We can also put adverbs like this in the middle of a sentence:

They’ll probably name a street after me.
This assumption is clearly no longer valid.

The rule tells what adverbs we can use at the beginning of a sentence.
Adverbs at the beginning of an English sentence.

Adverbs that emphasize the meaning of the word they describe

The next group of adverbs is adverbs that emphasize the meaning of the word they describe.

  1. Look at the following adverbs:
  • very
  • really
  • terribly
  • extremely
  • almost
  • quite
  • pretty

We usually put such adverbs in the middle of the sentence before the word that these adverbs characterize.

He is very tired.
She found it extremely difficult to get a job.
I’m quite happy to wait for you here.

Adverbs defining a verb

  1. We put an adverb after the verb to be. If the adverb defines the verb to be in one of its forms.

He was never a good man.

  1. If an adverb defines another adverb or adjective, then we put such an adverb most often before the word that it defines.

I can see it quite clearly.
They walked rather slowly.

Adverbs connecting sentences

Adverbs can connect sentences in a logical sequence.

Such adverbs can appear at the beginning of the sentence or in the middle of the sentence. These are such adverbs as:

  • next
  • anyway
  • however
  • besides
  • next

Adverbs that explain the speaker’s point of view

Let’s take a look at Adverbs that explain the speaker’s point of view in what he says.

  • fortunately
  • surprisingly
  • personally

We most often put them at the beginning of the sentence.

Honestly, I wish I had time to do more reading.
Often their homes are their only major material possession.

We can put some of these adverbs at the end of a sentence.

I know what you’ve done for me, honestly.

Always, Never, and Only

Now let’s talk about some adverbs separately. These are very popular adverbs that we often use in English.

  1. Always and never.

We usually put always and never in the middle of the sentence before the verb they define.

The bread always falls buttered side down.
Love is never paid but with true love.

  1. Only.

Only is an incredibly popular adverb. Most often, we put only before the word that the adverb only characterizes.

Wisdom is only found in truth.
A man can only die once.

Additional tips

If we have two or more adverbs to define one verb, then the order of these adverbs should be as follows:

  1. Adverb of manner
  2. Adverb of place
  3. Adverb of time
The rule says in what order we use adverbs in an English sentence.
The order in which adverbs should be used.

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