Paragraph

Parts of the paragraph

Topic sentence

The topic sentence is the first sentence in a paragraph.

What does it do?
It introduces the main idea of the paragraph.

How do I write one?
Summarize the main idea of your paragraph. Indicate to the reader what your paragraph will be about.

Supporting Details

They come after the topic sentence, making up the body of a paragraph.

What do they do?
They give details to develop and support the main idea of the paragraph.

How do I write them?
You should give supporting facts, details, and examples.

Closing Sentence

The closing sentence is the last sentence in a paragraph.

What does it do?
It restates the main idea of your paragraph.

How do I write one?
Restate the main idea of the paragraph using different words.

Proper use of punctuation and capitalization

Grammar is important because it provides information that helps the reader’s comprehension. It is the structure that conveys precise meaning from the writer to the audience. Punctuation helps convey the precise meaning of a sentence – and in fact can even change the meaning. Like punctuation, capitalization helps convey information. The first word of every sentence is capitalized, signaling that a new sentence has begun. Proper nouns – the name of a particular person, place, or thing – are capitalized to indicate uniqueness. However, it is not correct to use capitalization merely to make a word look or seem important.

appropriate number of sentences

If we look around, we'll find that the idea of paragraphs with a minimum of 3-5 sentences and a maximum of 8 is pretty common. But there are some who say that two to three paragraphs per page are best and others who say that 5 to 7 lines will do the job

transition signals

Transition signals are linking words or phrases that connect your ideas and add cohesion to your writing. They signpost or indicate to the reader the relationships between sentences and between paragraphs, making it easier for the reader to understand your ideas.

Transition signals will:

• make it easier for the reader to follow your ideas.
• create powerful links between sentences and paragraphs to improve the flow of information across the whole text. The result is that the writing is smoother.
• help to carry over a thought from one sentence to another, from one idea to another or from one paragraph to another.

Some examples are: specifically, in this case, to illustrate, for instance, for example, one example of this is, to demonstrate, on this occasion, accordingly, in accordance with