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How to write good paragraphs

Stay on one topic

Parts of a paragraph

The paragraph introduction

The topic sentence

Transition sentence

Background clarification sentences

The paragraph body

Examples

Analysis

Transition sentence

The topic sentence is usually the first sentence in a paragraph, but not always. Sometimes, a transition sentence is used to lead in from the last paragraph. The topic sentence then comes after the transition sentence:

In this example, the previous paragraph has been talking about the wheel and what a great invention it was. The new paragraph starts with a transition sentence that leads on from the ideas in the previous paragraph. Then, the topic sentence comes into play talking about computers and their importance.

Sometimes, the transition and the topic sentences can be combined into a single sentence. It’s OK to do this as long as your sentence doesn’t get too long and awkward. For instance, the previous example can fairly easily be combined into a single sentence:

Click here to move on to the next topic: Background clarification sentences