Basic Paragraph Structure

In many languages, the fundamental unit of composition is the paragraph.

A paragraph consists of several sentences that are grouped together. This
group of sentences together discuss one main subject. These three parts are
the topic sentence, body sentences, and the concluding sentence.

The Topic Sentence

A topic sentence usually comes at the beginning of a paragraph; that is, it is
usually the first sentence in a formal academic paragraph. (Sometimes this
is not true, but as you practice writing with this online lesson site, please
keep to this rule unless you are instructed otherwise.) Not only is a topic
sentence the first sentence of a paragraph, but, more importantly, it is
the most general sentence in a paragraph. What does "most general"
mean? It means that there are not many details in the sentence, but that the
sentence introduces an overall idea that you want to discuss later in the
paragraph.

For example, suppose that you want to write a paragraph about the natural
landmarks of your hometown. The first part of your paragraph might look
like this:

My hometown is famous for several

amazing natural features. First, it is noted
for the Wheaton River, which is very wide
and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the
town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual
because it is very steep.

(Notice how the first sentence begins with "My hometown..." a few spaces
to the right of the paragraph edge. This is anindentation. All paragraphs
in English MUST begin with an indentation.)
Note how the first sentence, My hometown, Wheaton, is famous for several
amazing geographical features,is the most generalstatement. This sentence
is different from the two sentences that follow it, since the second and third
sentences mention specific details about the town's geography, and are not
general statements.

Here are some examples of sentences that cannot be used as topic

sentences. Can you figure out why they are inappropriate?

1. My hometown is famous because it is

located by Wheaton River, which is
very wide, and because it is built near
an unusually steep hill called Wheaton
Hill.

2. There are two reasons why some

people like to buy cars with automatic
transmission and two reasons why
others like cars with manual
transmission.

3. Clouds are white.

The problem with sentence #1 is that it contains too many details. Topic
sentences are general, and details should appear later in the paragraph. A
better topic sentence would be like the one mentioned above, My hometown
is famous for several amazing geographical features.

Sentence #2 is not appropriate as a topic sentence because it mentions two

topics, not just one. Paragraphs are usually about one main thing and so
their topic sentences should also be about only one main thing.

The problem with sentence #3 is that it is toogeneral. It is also very boring!

Would you like to read a paragraph with this topic sentence? Most people
would not.

We can rewrite sentences #2 and #3 in the following ways to make it

better:
  There are two reasons why some
people like to buy cars with automatic
transmission.

OR (in a different paragraph):

 There are two reasons why some

people like cars with manual
transmission.

 The shapes of clouds are determined

by various factors.

Supporting Sentences
Consider again the above-mentioned, short paragraph:

My hometown, Wheaton, is famous for

several amazing natural features. First, it is
noted for the Wheaton River, which is very
wide and beautiful. Also, on the other side of
the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual
because it is very steep.

(Again, note how this paragraph is indented on the first line, about five or
seven spaces in from the left-hand edge of the
paragraph. Always remember to indent your paragraphs!)

When a reader reads a topic sentence, such as My hometown, Wheaton, is

famous for several amazing natural features,aquestion should usually
appear in the reader's mind. In this case, the question should be like,
"What are the natural features that make Wheaton famous?" The reader
should then expect that the rest of the paragraph will give an answer to this
question.

Now look at the sentences after the topic sentence. We can see that the
second sentence in the paragraph, First, it is noted for the Wheaton River,
which is very wide and beautiful,indeed gives an answer to this question.
That is, the second sentence gives some explanation for the fact that
Wheaton is a famous town. Similarly, we can see that the third sentence
also gives some explanation for the fact that Wheaton is famous by giving
another example of an "amazing natural feature," in this case, Wheaton
Hill.

The second and third sentences are called supporting sentences. They are
called "supporting" because they "support," or explain, the idea expressed
in the topic sentence. Of course, paragraphs in English often have more
than two supporting ideas. The paragraph above is actually a very short
paragraph. At minimum, you should have at
least five to seven sentences in your paragraph. Here we can see our
paragraph about Wheaton with a few more supporting sentences
in bold font:

My hometown is famous for several

amazing natural features. First, it is noted
for the Wheaton River, which is very wide
and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the
town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual
because it is very steep. The third amazing
feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree
stands two hundred feet tall and is
probably about six hundred years old.

In this lesson, we will talk about supporting sentences again in the section,
"Details in Paragraphs," below.

The Concluding Sentence

In formal paragraphs you will sometimes see a sentence at the end of the
paragraph which summarizes the information that has been presented. This
is the concluding sentence. You can think of a concluding sentence as a
sort of topic sentence in reverse.
You can understand concluding sentences with this example. Consider a
hamburger that you can buy at a fast-food restaurant.* A hamburger has a
top bun (a kind of bread), meat, cheese, lettuce, and other elements in the
middle of the hamburger, and a bottom bun. Note how the top bun and the
bottom bun are very similar. The top bun, in a way, is like a topic sentence,
and the bottom bun is like the concluding sentence. Both buns "hold" the
meat, onions, and so on. Similarly, the topic sentence and concluding
sentence "hold" the supporting sentences in the paragraph. Let's see how a
concluding sentence (in bold font) might look in our sample paragraph
about Wheaton:

My hometown is famous for several

amazing natural features. First, it is noted
for the Wheaton River, which is very wide
and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the
town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual
because it is very steep. The third amazing
feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands
two hundred feet tall and is probably about
six hundred years old.
These three landmarks are truly amazing
and make my hometown a famous place.

Notice how the concluding sentence, These three landmarks are truly
amazing and make my hometown a famous place,summarizes the
information in the paragraph. Notice also how the concluding sentence is
similar to, but not exactly the same as, the topic sentence.

Not all academic paragraphs contain concluding sentences, especially if the

paragraph is very short. However, if your paragraph is very long, it is a
good idea to use a concluding sentence.

Details in Paragraphs
The short paragraph in this lesson is a fairly complete paragraph, but it
lacks details. Whenever possible, you should include enough details in
your paragraphs to help your reader understand exactly what you are
writing about. In the paragraph about Wheaton, three natural landmarks
are mentioned, but we do not know very much about them. For example,
we could add a sentence or two about Wheaton river concerning HOW
wide it is or WHY it is beautiful. Consider this revision (and note the
additional details in bold):

My hometown is famous for several

amazing natural features. First, it is noted
for the Wheaton River, which is very wide
and beautiful. On either side of this river,
which is 175 feet wide, are many willow
trees which have long branches that can
move gracefully in the wind. In autumn
the leaves of these trees fall and cover the
riverbanks like golden snow. Also, on the
other side of the town is Wheaton Hill,
which is unusual because it is very
steep. Even though it is steep, climbing
this hill is not dangerous, because there
are some firm rocks along the sides that
can be used as stairs. There are no trees
around this hill, so it stands clearly against
the sky and can be seen from many miles
away. The third amazing feature is the Big
Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet
tall and is probably about six hundred years
old. These three landmarks are truly
amazing and make my hometown a famous
place.

If we wished, we could also add more details to the paragraph to describe

the third natural feature of the area, the Big Old Tree.

Why are details important? Consider the example of the hamburger,

mentioned above.* If the hamburger buns are the topic and concluding
sentences, then the meat, the cheese, the lettuce, and so on are the
supporting details. Without the food between the hamburger buns, your
hamburger would not be very delicious! Similarly, without supporting
details, your paragraph would not be very interesting.

A Note on Formality. In addition to having a particular kind of

structure, academic paragraphs (and multi-paragraph essays, which will be
topic of another lesson) are different from "ordinary writing" (such as letter
writing) in that certain kinds of expressions are not allowed. For example,
in formal essays, you should not use contractions such as don't or aren't.
Instead, you should write out the words in full, for example, do not and are
not.

Also, in formal essays you should avoid the first and second person. That
is, do not use the pronouns I or you. The pronouns weand us are
sometimes used in formal essays in some major fields, but in general you
should not use these unless you are certain that they are customary in your
field and/or your professor allows them. It is safer simply to use the third
person.

TOO
INFORMAL ACCEPTABLE
(Do not use)
don't do not
doesn't does not
aren't are not
weren't were not
can't cannot
couldn't could not
won't will not