A paragraph is a fragment of text.
The Latin word paragraphus became paragraph, a term commonly used in the field of grammar . These are the different fragments of a text , which can be recognized by their capital letter at the beginning and by the full stop that marks their end.
A paragraph can be made up of one or more sentences . Each of them is separated from the other through a dot and followed. Sentences, in turn, are sets of words that make up a unit of meaning. If we continue breaking down the elements, we can also affirm that words are created from the combination of letters .
A certain number of paragraphs can lead to a story , a novel , a newspaper article , a letter or other types of message. For example: «Professor, I did not understand the paragraph where the author mentions the theory of evolution» , «In the fourth paragraph of the note, the journalist makes a serious mistake by confusing the murderer with his brother» , «Three paragraphs out of four lines were enough for the governor to explain the reasons for his resignation .
One paragraph sentences
Within a paragraph, different kinds of sentences can be identified according to their hierarchy or function . The main sentence is the one that marks the meaning of the paragraph and on which other sentences, classified as secondary, depend. The paragraph in question is understood even if the secondary sentences are missing; not so if the absent one is the main sentence.
In the main sentence it is not always shown explicitly; This means that sometimes it is not written in the paragraph, but rather we must deduce it. Likewise, the explicit sentence does not necessarily appear at the beginning, but can be located anywhere in the paragraph.
The importance of consistency
One of the main features of the paragraph is the coherence that its parts must have: there must be a thread between its sentences, a central theme around which the messages revolve, so that the paragraph is clearly identified as a logical unit and with sufficient content to be understood by the reader.
When in a paragraph you want to talk about a subject or object present in a previous section of the text, it is necessary to resort to some element of language that allows establishing the connection and indicating where the apparently missing information is located.
Paragraphs must have internal coherence.
Paragraph Types
There are various types of paragraphs, which can be classified according to more than one criterion . Broadly speaking, we find the following:
* narrative : it is also called chronological and contains a series of statements that must be accepted without the need to demonstrate their validity. It is widely used when the author wants to expose events ordered in time , what happens in a news story or a story, for example;
* descriptive : focuses on the use of sensory images to communicate to the reader the qualities of the subjects, objects and events that are part of the text;
* argumentative : used to communicate or refute opinions with the aim of convincing the recipient about an idea, refuting the opposite one or dissuading him from a particular behavior. This type of paragraph is very useful to develop a topic around which a current discussion revolves;
* expository : has the purpose of providing more information about a topic. Its extension usually depends on the complexity of the concept that you want to develop;
* relative : presents a series of ideas so that each reader can make their own interpretation. It is often used in scientific essays with the aim of sparking controversy and the exchange of ideas;
* enumeration : this type of paragraph presents a list of situations, starting with the most important and continuing in descending hierarchy.