Understanding Nouns, Pronouns, and Cohesion in Writing
Learn the importance of choosing nouns and pronouns appropriately for clarity, cohesion, and to avoid repetition in writing. Understand how pronouns can help maintain cohesion in a text by referring back to nouns effectively. Practice using pronouns to complete sentences and improve your writing skills.
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Year 4 SPAG NCLO: Choosing nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion and to avoid repetition.
What is a noun? Nouns refer to people, places, things or ideas. Examples: Zara, Brazil, table, joy, hope Can you think of other nouns?
What is a pronoun? A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or a whole noun phrase. Pronouns enable us to avoid repetition. Compare these examples: Example 1: Jennie left her phone at home. She went back to get it. Example 2: Jennie left her phone at home. Jennie went back to get her phone. Example 1 uses pronouns to replace Jennie and phone in the second sentence. Example 2 does not include pronouns therefore the second sentence sounds repetitive.
What is meant by cohesion? If you write more than one sentence about a subject you have to make sure the text connects together and makes sense to whoever is reading it. Cohesion refers to the way a text sticks together. A cohesive text: Contains sentences which are sensibly linked. Flows in a logical way. Correctly uses pronouns to refer back to nouns or noun phrases which have already been mentioned.
The importance of cohesion Texts with cohesion contain pronouns which refer back to the noun accurately in a way which is easy to understand. Discuss which of the texts below lack cohesion and why you think this. Example 1: She lost it. She looked everywhere for it. Finally, she found her bag behind the sofa. She could not remember putting it there. Example 2: Mary lost her bag. She looked everywhere for it. Finally, she found it behind the sofa. She could not remember putting it there.
Have a go! Choose pronouns to complete the sentences. Pronouns which are commonly used to refer back to nouns which have already been used in the text include: he/ she / him /her they/ them /we/us it/one /there 1. Ella was angry, but ____ tried not to show her feelings. 2. The bus was packed, but Tom had no choice to get on ___ 3. Zara and Liam were late so _______ had to run. 4. Aleena and I have been best friends since ______ were in nursery. 5. Sam forgot to take his lunch with _____.
Were you right? 1. Ella was angry, but she tried not to show her feelings. 2. The bus was packed, but Tom had no choice to get on it. 3. Zara and Liam were late so they had to run. 4. Aleena and I have been best friends since we were in nursery. 5. Sam forgot to take his lunch with him.
Can you spot the pronouns in this text? On Saturday, Kiara and I went to the fair. We had a brilliant time there. The best ride was called the Superzoom Rollercoaster. It was brilliant. We saw our friends Keenan and Kyle. They are in the same class as us at school. We also saw Alyssa Smith. She is in the year above. Even though she is older, she was too nervous to go on the Superzoom Rollercoaster! She said it might make her feel sick. Kiara and I decided not to go on the ghost train because it looked too scary but we went on lots of other rides.
Were you right? On Saturday, Kiara and I went to the fair. We had a brilliant time there. The best ride was called the Superzoom Rollercoaster. It was brilliant. We saw our friends Keenan and Kyle. They are in the same class as us at school. We also saw Alyssa Smith. She is in the year above. Even though she is older, she was too nervous to go on the Superzoom Rollercoaster! She said it might make her feel sick. Kiara and I decided not to go on the ghost train because it looked too scary but we went on lots of other rides. Discuss: can you identify which nouns each of the underlined pronouns replaces?
Have a go! Ana is writing a story about aliens but the text is too repetitive. Help her to improve her story by replacing some of the nouns with suitable pronouns. Note: If you replace too many nouns with pronouns the text will lack cohesion. If you replace too few nouns with pronouns the text will remain repetitive. Can you find a balance? Ana s Story The spaceship hovered in the sky. The spaceship was enormous. Slowly, the spaceship began to descend towards earth. The people below watched nervously. The people could not believe what was happening. When the spaceship landed, the doors opened . Three green aliens stood in the doorway. The three green aliens smiled and then the three green aliens waved. The three green aliens seemed friendly. Everyone waved back at the three green aliens.
How did you improve Anas story? Below is an example of how Ana s story might look if it were improved by using pronouns appropriately. Ana s Story The spaceship hovered in the sky. It was enormous. Slowly, it began to descend towards earth. The people below watched nervously. They could not believe what was happening. When the spaceship landed, the doors opened . Three green aliens stood in the doorway. They smiled and then they waved. They seemed friendly. Everyone waved back at them.
Reflect and Discuss What is a noun? What is a pronoun? Can you give examples of pronouns? What problems may occur if pronouns are not used? If a text has cohesion what does this mean?
