--- title: Paragraphs and cohesion: holding a text together — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Paragraphs and cohesion: holding a text together», a lesson of the english course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: A paragraph is a group of sentences about one thing, and starting a new one tells the reader "something has changed", lik --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/) / Paragraphs and cohesion: holding a tex… # Paragraphs and cohesion: holding a text together Lesson 37 of the english course of Mova's primary school: 17 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/0/) — A paragraph is a group of sentences about one thing, and starting a new one tells the reader "something has changed", like a new scene in a film. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/1/) — Many teachers use TiPToP to know when to start a new paragraph: a change of Time, Place, Topic or Person; a Year 3 story written as one giant block is like a lunchbox with everything mashed together. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/2/) — Cohesion is the glue that makes the sentences and paragraphs hang together: pronouns (Max ... he), linking words (because, however), time and place openers (Later that day, Meanwhile, Outside) and repeated key words all hold the reader's hand. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/3/) — "Then... then... then..." is weak glue: it only says "next" and soon sounds like a shopping list; "After lunch", "Suddenly" or "By the time we got home" also tell the reader when and how. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/4/) — In information texts, headings such as "Habitat", "Diet" and "Life cycle" and signposts such as "Firstly", "Secondly" and "Finally" act like signs in a big shop that tell you which aisle you are in. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/5/) — A paragraph is a group of sentences about one main idea. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/6/) — TiPToP is a way to remember when to start a new paragraph: a change of Time, Place, Topic or Person. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/7/) — A new paragraph is shown by an indent (a small gap at the start of the line) or by a blank line; schools and books use one or the other. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/8/) — The first sentence of a paragraph often tells the reader what it is about; it is called a topic sentence. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/9/) — Cohesion means the parts of a text are linked so that it reads as one whole. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/10/) — Pronouns such as he, she, it and they avoid repeating names, but they must be clear: "Tom met Sam and he laughed" does not say who laughed. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/11/) — Adverbials such as "Later that day", "Meanwhile" and "Nearby" link paragraphs by time and place. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/12/) — Linking words such as "however", "because" and "as a result" show how ideas connect. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/13/) — Repeating a key word, or a synonym for it, helps link paragraphs about the same topic. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/14/) — In non-fiction, headings, subheadings and signposts such as "Firstly, secondly, finally" organise the text. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/15/) — A long paragraph is not wrong, but a paragraph that mixes several ideas is hard to follow. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/16/) — In Leeds and other parts of Northern England "well" means very, as in "well long"; in Gen Alpha slang "slay" means do brilliantly. - ← previous: [Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons and hyphens](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/) - next →: [Standard English and dialect: "we was" in talk, "we were" in writing](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were/) - ↑ back to [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/)