COHERENCE

AND COHESION
SARMIENTO, JOSHUA
RUELO, CJY MIKO
COHERENCE

AND COHESION When it comes to planned, non-

spontaneous texts including written

discourse and speeches, the manner in

which the text is put together can be

explained by elements of coherence and

cohesion. There should be logical and

clear transitions. Make use of logical

and clear transitions in writing

Transitional and connecting words show

relationships.
 TRANSITIONAL EXPRESSSIONS

INTRODUCTORY- IN PARTICULAR, FOR

EXAMPLE

TIME- FIRST, AFTER, BEFORE, FINALLY, NEXT

SPACE- BEHIND BELOW, HERE, IN FRONT OF
COMPARISON- SIMILARITY, THAN, ALSO
CONTRAST- HOWEVER, ON THE OTHER HAND,
ON THE CONTRARY

CAUSE AND EFFECT- THEREFORE, BECAUSE,

SINCE

DEGREE- FIRST, MOST IMPORTANTLY, MAINLY

COHERENCE COHESION
refers to the act of
defined as the quality
forming a whole unit. It
of being logical,
is effectively a subset of
consistent and able to
coherence.
be understood.

Picture cohesion as the

Imagine coherence as
bricks and cement
a building.
which make up the
building.
 BRICKS AND CEMENT CAN BE

PUT TOGETHER TO CREATE ANY

FORM OF STRUCTURE.

HOWEVER, IT IS ONLY WHEN

THEY ARE LAID TOGETHER

PROPERLY THAT THEY FORM A

BUILDING. SIMILARLY, A TEXT

WILL BE COHESIVE IF COHESIVE

TIES ARE USED HOWEVER IT

WILL ONLY BE COHERENT IF THE

COHESIVE TIES ARE USED

APPROPRIATELY TO CREATE

MEANING.
 YOU CAN HAVE COHESION

WITHOUT COHERENCE BUT YOU

CANNOT HAVE COHERENCE

WITHOUT COHESION. THE

PICTURE DOES NOT MAKE

SENSE UNLESS THE CORRECT

PIECES ARE PLACED IN THE

CORRECT ORDER, EVEN IF

CERTAIN PIECES MAY BE THE

SAME SIZE AND SHAPE.

EXAMPLE OF BOTH

COHESION AND

COHERENCE.

"My favourite colour is blue.  I

like it because it is calming and  it relaxes
me.  I often go outside in the summer and lie
on the grass and look into the clear

sky when I am stressed.  For this reason,

I'd have to say my favourite colour is blue."
COHESION WITH NO

COHERENCE

"My favourite colour is blue.  Blue sports cars

go very fast.  Driving in this way is dangerous

and can cause many car crashes.  I had a car

accident once and broke my leg.  I was very

sad because I had to miss a holiday in Europe

because of  the injury."

As you can see, there is plenty of cohesion
here. The sentences connect clearly
together but if you read the paragraph, it
really makes no sense - I start talking about
blue and I finish talking about a holiday in
Europe. There is no coherence in this
sentence.
COHERENCE WITH

NO COHESION

"My favourite colour is blue.  I'm

calm and relaxed.  In the summer I

lie on the grass and look up."

This is more difficult to understand but basically this lack of cohesion

means a lack of sufficient connectors to join the ideas together. If we
try hard we can understand what the person is saying: a short answer,
an explanation, an example; however the sentences don't fit together.
 ANOTHER

EXAMPLES

A. "I think these people are having a good time."

B. "It appears these people are enjoying themselves."

A. "They seem to be on holiday."

B. "It looks like they are on vacation."

Obviously there is no connection between A and B in this conversation.  We

understand them and they are coherent.  What is missing is cohesion.  They

are not connected.  A is not listening to B and B is not listening to A.

 ANOTHER

EXAMPLES

On the other hand, take a look at this example:

A. "I think these people are having a good time."

B. "Time is difficult to manage.  I am always late for my social appointments

like when I have a date with a girl."

A. "I like girls with long, dark hair and brown eyes."

B. "My dog has brown eyes and a long tail."

etc, etc.

This example shows that there is cohesion but the conversation makes no sense

and therefore it is missing coherence.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING