Paragraph cohesion is about how well one sentence leads to the next and one paragraph leads to the next. In First Language English writing, a reader should never have to stop and work out who “they” are, why a sentence begins with “however”, or what a paragraph is doing in the essay. This module trains five editing habits that remove those stops.
Check the current Cambridge First Language English 0500 syllabus page for the assessment of writing in your exam year. Our English First Language learning guide shows where this module sits. This subject is First Language English, not English as a Second Language.
What should you already know?
You should be able to write a paragraph of several sentences on a topic, using full stops and capital letters correctly. You do not need advanced grammar. Knowing what a noun and a pronoun are is enough, and the lessons explain the rest.
An orienting example
Read this original paragraph.
Hana and her cousin Mei entered the science fair. She built a water filter. However, it was cheap to make. Students like to be creative. Last week you could see the crowds gather.
It has five faults.
“She” could be either girl. “However” promises a contrast that is not there, because being cheap does not go against building a filter. “Students like to be creative” drifts away from the fair.
“It” could mean the filter or the fair. “Last week you could see” shifts to “you” and to a different time.
A repaired version:
Hana and her cousin Mei entered the science fair. Mei built a water filter, and because it was cheap to make, other teams could copy the design. The crowds who gathered around it were curious about how it worked.
Each repair belongs to one lesson in this module.
In what order should you study the lessons?
- Maintain clear pronoun reference first, because every later link depends on the reader knowing who or what each word points to.
- Use transitions that express the actual relationship next, to learn how to choose a link by what two sentences really do.
- Connect topic sentences with the task to make every paragraph opening answer the question.
- Remove repetition across adjacent paragraphs to make sure each paragraph adds something new.
- Repair a sudden shift in viewpoint to keep person and tense steady from start to finish.
What are the common traps?
- Bare “this” or “it” at the start of a sentence, with two or more things it might mean.
- Decorative transitions such as moreover or furthermore used to sound formal rather than to show a relationship.
- True but drifting topic sentences, which are about the topic in general and not about the task.
- Changing the words but not the idea when a point is repeated.
- Mixing “students”, “you” and “we” in one argument, or drifting between past and present in a story.
How should you use the practice set?
Try the paragraph cohesion practice set after you have worked through at least three lessons, and cover the explanations until you have written your own answers. Note the type of slip you made each time, so you know which lesson to revisit.
The writing revision compare view lets you place a draft and its edited version side by side, and the summary selection and paraphrase studio helps with choosing relevant points. When you are comfortable here, continue with sentence control.
Some students can follow every explanation but still lose clarity in their own timed writing, because the faults only show up when someone reads as a stranger would. That is what our teachers do in online one-to-one English First Language tuition.