How to Segue a Sentence

When you hear the word “segue,” you might not immediately think of its original definition. In fact, the word might make you think of “Segway” instead. While segue’s definition is essentially to transfer smoothly from one place to another, Segway is the trademarked name of a motorized, two-wheeled vehicle that became popular in the early 2000s. Funny enough, Segway chose its name on purpose, hoping that consumers would associate smooth movement from one place to another with their new transportation device.

We can define segue as both a verb and a noun. As a verb, segue’s definition means to move smoothly or transition, and it is often used when talking about conversation, writing, music or film. As a noun, segue’s definition refers to the transition that was made itself.

The dictionary defines segue as "to make a transition without interruption from one activity, topic, scene, or part to another."

To use segue in a sentence, first decide if you would rather use the word in its verb or noun form. To use segue in its noun form, make sure you are talking or writing about the act of a smooth transition itself.

A sentence that uses segue in its noun form would look like this: "The segue between the song’s chorus and its third verse was particularly effective."

A sentence that uses segue in its verb form would look like this: "Janae segued from the introduction of her speech to her first point."

If your teacher has told you that you need to use a segue in your essay, that means that you probably need to transition between topics more smoothly. This can come into play at the sentence level of your writing, but it more commonly refers to writing transitions between paragraphs, something with which many writers struggle.

If your teacher has told you that you need to segue better between topics in a sentence, take a look at the topics you are using. Your topics may be too different. They might have a connection that needs more explaining. If that is the case, you may need to expand the idea into more than one sentence.

When writing transitions between paragraphs, write a sentence that connects the two ideas or leads conceptually from the first idea to the second one. For example, if you were writing about dogs, you might write something like: “While internet memes and videos try to dispel false claims about the dangers of owning a pit bull, they aren’t the only type of dogs that have gotten a bad reputation.” That sentence might segue into a paragraph that goes into further detail about other dog breeds with bad reputations.