Cohesion: Five Methods

Cohesion means the parts of a written text are connected so they "stick together." The word comes from the verb cohere, meaning to stick together. Good cohesion makes it easier for the reader to follow your main ideas. It is achieved mainly through five methods — repeated words/ideas, reference words, transition signals, substitution, and ellipsis — plus two further devices: shell nouns and thematic development.

Throughout this lesson we return to one example passage:

1. Repeated words / ideas. Repeat a key word, or repeat the idea using a synonym or a different word form. In the passage, cohesion recurs (including as the verb coheres); writing reappears as essay or report; and important features returns as key feature and important aspect. Avoid too much exact repetition — vary the word forms.

2. Reference words. These point to something mentioned elsewhere, usually earlier. The commonest are pronouns: it, this, these, which. In the passage, it and which both refer back to cohesion, and these refers back to important features.

3. Transition signals. Also called linking words or cohesive devices, they show the relationship between ideas. Some examples:

In the passage, the transition signals first, second, third, fourth, final simply give a list of the five features.

4. Substitution. One or more words replace earlier words, usually within the following clause. Common substitutes are one, so, and auxiliaries (do, have, be). Example: "Drinking alcohol before driving is illegal, since doing so can seriously impair one's ability to drive." — doing so substitutes for drinking alcohol before driving. In the passage, one substitutes for important features.

5. Ellipsis. Leaving out words because the meaning is clear from context — sometimes called "substitution by zero." In the passage, "The fourth is…" means "The fourth [important feature] is…"; the words important feature are omitted.

Two further devices

Shell nouns are abstract nouns that summarise preceding or following information, helping the text cohere — approach, aspect, factor, issue, method, problem, process, reason, result, trend, type, and so on. They often appear with this/these/that or the. Example: "…frequent washing of hands, use of face masks, and isolation of infected individuals. These methods, however, are not completely effective." Here methods sums up the list before it.

Thematic development. The theme is the first element of a sentence; the rheme is what is said about it. Cohesion grows when the rheme of one sentence becomes the theme of the next — a given-to-new structure. For example: "Virus transmission can be reduced via washing of hands… These methods are not completely effective… especially among health workers… It is important for such health workers to pay attention…" — each new idea is picked up as the topic of the following sentence.