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Sentence Coherent

How to write a coherent sentence

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Adina Mitrea
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28 views3 pages

Sentence Coherent

How to write a coherent sentence

Uploaded by

Adina Mitrea
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Letting it flow

Look at the following paragraph:

My friends came over to my house. They brought their bicycles.


We rode our bicycles to the store. It started to rain. We
stayed in the store. The rain stopped. We rode our bicycles
back to my house.

What do you think of it?


a) Does it make sense?
b) Is it grammatical?
c) Is it well-written?

The text above is grammatical and it makes sense, but it is badly written because it does
not flow well. Textual fluency concerns how the text sounds when it is read out loud. Texts
are fluent when they contain sentences with a variety of lengths, types and structures.
Short sentences are used for emphasis. Long, complex sentences are used to explain ideas
or to give detail. Fluency is also achieved by varying the beginnings of sentences and using
connectors. The result is writing that sounds almost like music; it is a pleasure to read
such a text out loud.

Look at the paragraph again:

My friends came over to my house. They brought their bicycles.


We rode our bicycles to the store. It started to rain. We
stayed in the store. The rain stopped. We rode our bicycles
back to my house.

a) Does the writer vary the length of the sentences?


b) Which structures does the paragraph lack?
c) Underline the first word of each sentence. Does the writer vary the beginnings of the
sentences?

Now look at the following version of the same paragraph:

My friends came over to my house with their bicycles so we


could ride to the store. Unfortunately, it started to rain so we
stayed in the store until the rain stopped. Then, we rode our
bicycles back to my house.

a) Does the writer vary the length of the sentences?


b) Which structures does the paragraph lack?
c) Underline the first word of each sentence. Does the writer vary the beginnings of the
sentences?

© 2009 www.teachit.co.uk 11703 Page 1 of 3


Letting it flow
Improve the paragraph below:
Rewrite the paragraph below to make it more fluent (varied sentence lengths and
structures, different sentence beginnings, etc.). The rewritten paragraph must contain the
main ideas of the original paragraph; however, you may add extra details to make the
sentences more fluent.
When you have finished, compare your improvements with the other students.

The boy was alone in the cemetery. It was dark. It was gloomy.
The boy saw something. He was scared. It was a vampire. The
vampire was chasing him. He was scared. The vampire caught
him. The vampire bit him. He was dead.

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© 2009 www.teachit.co.uk 11703 Page 2 of 3


Letting it flow
Answers

Paragraph 1
a) Does it make sense?
Yes. The meaning is very clear.
b) Is it grammatical?
Yes.
c) Is it well-written?
No. It lacks fluency.

Paragraph 2
a) Does the writer vary the length of the sentences?
No. Each sentence is very short, containing a minimal subject, verb and
complement.
b) Which structures does the paragraph lack?
It lacks longer sentences, adjectives and adverbs, and connectors.
c) Does the writer vary the beginnings of the sentences?
No. All the sentences begin with either ‘We’ or ‘It’.

Paragraph 3
a) Does the writer vary the length of the sentences?
Yes. The last sentence is shorter, to emphasize the writer’s feelings.
b) Which structures does the paragraph lack?
None. It includes adjectives, complex sentences, and connectors.
c) Does the writer vary the beginnings of the sentences?
Yes. The beginning of each sentence is different.

© 2009 www.teachit.co.uk 11703 Page 3 of 3

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