COHERENCE AND

COHESION
Reading and Writing Skills

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
 2 3 4 5 6 7

Activity
Compare these 2 examples:

a. I did some shopping, went home, but

before that, I went to the movies.

b. First, I went to movies, then I did my

shopping and after that I went home.

1
 3 4 5 6 7

Objectives

Identify the explore a cohesive write a coherent

differences between and coherent composition.
cohesion and composition; and
coherence;

1 2
 4 5 6 7

Coherence and cohesion

• When ideas are organized well, a
text can achieve coherence and
cohesion. Both should be present to
make your text easier for your
readers to follow and understand.
1 2 3
 4 5 6 7

Coherence and cohesion

• Cohesion is the connection of ideas
both at the sentence level and at the
paragraph level.
• Coherence refers to the overall sense of
unity in a text.
1 2 3
 4 5 6 7

Cohesion
• Where you can see connection
• Focused on the grammatical aspect of
• writing
It helps the ideas to become meaningful by
sticking the ideas together at the sentence
level.
• Act of forming a whole unit

1 2 3
 5 6 7

Coherence
• quality of being logical, consistent and
able to be understood.
• You as a reader can easily grasp the
meaning of what you read because the
ideas are sequenced following a definite
order, and their relationship to one
another is established.
1 2 3 4
 7

How can you

Achieve a
coherent text?

1 2 3 4 5 6
 7

STRUCTURAL
DEVICES

1 2 3 4 5 6
 7
COORDINATORS AND SUBORNATORS

Coordinators – connecting two ideas of equal weight and importance

for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Subordinators – identifying one idea as less important than another

Are, when, since, although, so that, until, before, unless, when,

whenever, etc.

1 2 3 4 5 6
 7
Coordinating Conjunction

 She is travelling by train, but she prefers to

travel by car.
 The patient complained of stomach pain yet
she refused treatment.

1 2 3 4 5 6
 7
Subordinating Conjunction

 The instructor administered the test, after

giving instructions.
 After giving instructions, the instructor
administered the test.

1 2 3 4 5 6
 7
SUBTITUTIONS
• Substitution means using one or
more words to replace
(substitute) for one or more
words used earlier in the text.

1 2 3 4 5 6
 7
SUBTITUTIONS
• Grammatically, it is similar to reference
words, the main difference being that
substitution is usually limited to the clause
which follows the word(s) being substituted,
whereas reference words can refer to
something far back in the text.

1 2 3 4 5 6
 7
SUBTITUTIONS
Drinking alcohol before driving is
illegal in many countries, since doing
so can seriously impair one's ability to
drive safely.

1 2 3 4 5 6
 7
LEXICAL PATTERNING

Example:
Heroism does not need to be recognized by all people nor
becoming superior to others. One can do heroic deeds by doing
small act of kindness to the needy even if nobody noticed it.

Heroism – noun
Heroic – function not as a noun but as an adjective.

1 2 3 4 5 6
 7
LEXICAL PATTERNING
Laughable (changes the verb laugh
to an adjective)
Government (changes the verb govern
to a noun)
 Apologize (changes noun apology to a verb)

1 2 3 4 5 6
 7
LEXICAL PATTERNING

It means changing the function of

the word into another part of
speech.

1 2 3 4 5 6
 7
PARALLELISM
VERB - Our body cells divide, reproduce, and
replenish themselves.
ADVERB - Slowly but surely, firmly but gently, the
labor leader coaxed his followers to lay down their
arms.
ADJECTIVE - In all ages, woman has been the
source of all that is pure, unselfish, and heroic.
1 2 3 4 5 6
 7
PARALLELISM
PHRASE STRUCTURES:
1. Bataan is the symbol of all the frustrations, all the
defeats, all the ignominious surrenders of 400 years
of fighting for freedom.
2. To have a steady job, to have my own family, and to
have a secure future are my goals in life.

1 2 3 4 5 6
 7
PARALLELISM
It can achieved by using similar
structures in expressing a series of
ideas.

1 2 3 4 5 6
 Remider:

You can have cohesion without coherence

but you cannot have coherence without
cohesion.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
 ACTIVITY

1 2 3 4 5 6 7