Cohesion & Linking

What is Cohesion?

Cohesion is what makes a set of correct sentences read as one piece of writing rather than a list. It is a marked IELTS criterion in its own right — Coherence and Cohesion is a quarter of the Writing score and part of the Speaking score — and it is the one most often lost by candidates whose grammar is otherwise fine.

Two sentences can both be perfect and still not belong together:

Online courses are cheap. Many students drop out.

Add one word and they become an argument:

Online courses are cheap. However, many students drop out.

Cohesion is the set of tools that do that joining. There are four of them, and most learners only know one.

The Four Tools

Candidates reach for the first and ignore the other three. That is why essays full of moreover and furthermore still score 6 for cohesion: the markers are there, but the sentences are not actually woven together.

Linking Words, By Job

Position matters. However goes at the start of its sentence with a comma, or mid-sentence between commas. It does not join two clauses with a comma:

The price rose, however demand stayed flat.

"The price rose. However, demand stayed flat."

"The price rose; however, demand stayed flat."

"The price rose, but demand stayed flat."

However is an adverb. But is a conjunction. Only the conjunction can join.

Reference — The Tool That Actually Scores

Reference words point backwards at something already said. Used well, they are invisible; used badly, the reader loses the thread.

The rule for this: it must be unmistakable what it points at. If a paragraph has three ideas in it, a bare this at the start of the next sentence points at all three and therefore at none. Add the noun:

This is a problem. → "This reluctance is a problem."

This + noun is the single highest-value habit in this lesson. It scores for cohesion, it proves you can nominalize, and it removes ambiguity in two words.

Substitution and Ellipsis

Substitution swaps in a short word for one already used:

"I need a bigger suitcase — the red one is too small."

"She asked me to review the draft, and I was glad to do so."

Ellipsis leaves the word out entirely, because the reader can supply it:

"Some students finished early; others [finished] late."

"He could have called, but he didn't [call]."

Both are what stop good English from repeating itself. A paragraph that names its subject in every sentence reads as a beginner's, even when every sentence is correct.

Cohesion in Daily Life

Situation 1 — Disagreeing Politely at Work

"I take the point about cost. That said, we have missed two deadlines already."

That said concedes and then turns. More natural than however in speech.

Situation 2 — Explaining a Decision

"The second quote was cheaper and arrived sooner. For both reasons, we went with them."

A reference phrase pulling two facts into one conclusion.

Situation 3 — Giving Directions

"Go past the bank, then take the second left. After that, it's on your right."

Sequencing markers doing exactly what they are for.

Situation 4 — Writing a Complaint

"I was promised a refund within seven days. Three weeks later, no such refund has appeared."

No such as a reference word — sharper than the refund has not appeared.

Situation 5 — Summing Up an Argument

"On balance, then, the benefits outweigh the costs — though not by the margin its supporters claim."

On balance signals a weighed conclusion rather than a one-sided one, which is what a Task 2 conclusion needs.

The Overuse Trap

Examiners penalize mechanical linking, and most candidates overshoot in the same way: one marker at the start of every paragraph, and often one at the start of every sentence.

Firstly, online learning is cheap. Moreover, it is flexible. Furthermore, it saves travel. In addition, it is available anywhere. Finally, it is popular.

Five markers, no argument. The sentences are a list wearing linking words as a disguise. Compare:

"Online learning is cheap, and because it is also flexible, it reaches people that classroom courses never could — rural students above all. Cost alone would not do that; the combination is what matters."

One explicit marker and one reference phrase, and the ideas are actually connected rather than merely sequenced.

A working ratio: one linking word per paragraph, plus reference words wherever they help. If two consecutive sentences both open with a marker, delete one.

Sentences — Beginner to Advanced

Beginner

"It was raining. So we stayed inside."

The most basic cause link, and perfectly acceptable.

Beginner

"I like tea. However, I prefer coffee."

Correct, if a little stiff. In speech most people would say but.

Intermediate

"The scheme cut waiting times. This improvement, however, came at considerable cost."

This + noun for reference and however mid-sentence for contrast, in one sentence.

Intermediate

"Two options were considered: expanding the site, or relocating entirely. The latter was rejected on cost."

The latter pointing cleanly at the second of two.

Advanced

"Supporters argue that the policy protects jobs. Critics counter that it protects only existing ones — and that this distinction is precisely what the figures conceal."

The link is carried by counter and by this distinction rather than by any linking adverb at all. This is what high-band cohesion looks like: the joins are in the meaning.

Advanced

"Granted, enforcement has been inconsistent. Even so, the regulation has halved the number of incidents, and no alternative proposal has come close to doing the same."

A concession, a turn, and a substitution — three different tools in three clauses.

How Cohesion Elevates Your English

It is a quarter of your Writing mark, explicitly. But the reason it is worth real effort is narrower than that: cohesion is the band descriptor you can improve fastest. Vocabulary takes months. Grammatical range takes months. Learning to write this reluctance instead of this, and to delete every second furthermore, takes an afternoon and moves a 6.5 to a 7.

In Speaking, the same tools appear differently. That said, mind you, the thing is, having said that — these are the spoken cohesive devices, and using them makes you sound fluent in a way that moreover never will. A candidate who says moreover out loud sounds like they are reading.

Memory Tips

However is not but. One is an adverb and needs a full stop or semicolon; the other is a conjunction and takes a comma.

Never leave this alone. This + noun, every time. This trend, this failure, this distinction.

One marker per paragraph. If two sentences in a row start with a linking word, cut one.

Four tools, not one. Before adding another furthermore, ask whether a reference word, a substitution, or an ellipsis would do the job more quietly.

Spoken markers are different. That said and mind you in speech; nevertheless and consequently in writing. Mixing them up is what makes an essay sound chatty or a conversation sound stiff.

Common Mistakes vs Correct Forms

Formal vs Informal

Informal:

"It's pricey. That said, the quality's there."

That said is the everyday nevertheless, and sounds natural out loud.

Informal:

"Anyway, like I said, it's not really the point."

Anyway and like I said are genuine cohesive devices — they manage the conversation — and would be out of place in an essay.

Formal:

"The intervention reduced readmissions. Nevertheless, the effect was confined to one age group, and this limitation is not acknowledged in the summary."

Nevertheless for the turn and this limitation for the reference, which is the standard pairing in academic prose.

Formal:

"Two explanations have been advanced. The former assumes rational actors; the latter does not."

The former / the latter and an ellipsis (does not [assume rational actors]) in fourteen words.