Transition words are a great way to keep your sentences well-structured and ensure your expression flows. Then, use Matts two rules to revise your paragraph, if needed. Practice: Select a paragraph of your own writing, and analyze it for cohesion. However,….”Īvoid unnecessary words and long complicated sentences. If you find yourself in this situationwith paragraphs that are MEAL-compliant but still need more cohesiontry applying these two rules of thumb to your writing. For example “Smith and Jones (2008) propose that academic writing style should always be adhered to at tertiary level.

Within paragraphs – these tend to be single words or short phrases that help the reader follow your line of thought. To achieve cohesion and coherence paragraphs and sentences need to be clearly linked to each other to logically and linguistically form a whole.

Mouse over the examples to see how these cohesive devices work. Clausal substitution uses the words so and not. Verbal substitution uses the word do (does, did, don’t, doesnt, didn’t, has done, have done). In terms of writing, cohesion refers to words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that stick together or work well together, allowing the writer to convey a. These can be used either at the end of the first paragraph or the beginning of the next paragraph. Nominal substitution uses the words one, ones and same.

Between paragraphs – using a transition word or phrase will highlight the relationship that exists between the two paragraphs, for example ‘however’, ‘for example’ and ‘similarly’.

Each sentence in Version B 53 begins with old information and bridges to new information. In the example above, Version A has the exact same information as Version B, but it is harder to read because it is less cohesive. They also signal to the reader how to approach the information that follows.Įxamples of common transition words include: furthermore, moreover, besides, however, although, consequently, similarly, nonetheless, thus, despite Cohesion refers to the flow from sentence to sentence. They help by making clear the connections between sentences and paragraphs and indicate the flow of your ideas.

Transitions are words, phrases or sentences that make your writing easier to follow.

Paragraph cohesion