Do you feel like something is missing from your paragraph? Have you included a concluding sentence into it? If not, make certain to correct this serious mistake. Every paragraph should include a topic sentence, several supporting sentences and a concluding sentence. You might want to look through this quick guide that will help you make your concluding sentences just perfect.
Concluding sentence: functions
A concluding sentence is the final sentence in each paragraph. It should not be confused with a concluding paragraph, which is placed at the end of an essay. A concluding sentence plays a crucial role in every paragraph. Here are its main functions:
- to “mirror” a topic sentence which opens your paragraph and expresses the main idea you developed in this passage; make your topic sentence and the corresponding concluding sentence similar, but different;
- to summarize the main arguments of the whole paragraph;
- to make the transition to the following sentence (unless this paragraph is your concluding paragraph)
Concluding sentence: words to avoid
Here are some words that make poor choices for concluding sentences:
- In conclusion;
- in summary;
- to sum up.
Respect your readers. They understand that you are going to include a concluding sentence at the end of the paragraph. There is no need to say something that is so obvious.
Concluding sentence: words to use
To mirror a topic sentence and summarize the main arguments, you might want to use:
- synonyms for the words used in the topic sentence;
- therefore;
- thus;
- resulting.
To make the transition to the following paragraph, you might want to use:
- a word that will be introduced in the topic sentence of the following paragraph;
- the following;
- another, other.
Concluding sentence: examples
You might want to see good concluding sentence examples to enhance your understanding of what has already been said. Here is a good example:
Correct: Most business leaders have to face a common challenge, namely to correctly handle the people aspect of a change. The 327 project leaders participating in a study stated that if they had a chance to complete their projects differently, they would pay more attention to employee issues. Surprisingly, they did not emphasize technology or design issues. Therefore, the people aspect is critical to change management projects, because it can endanger the success of whole projects.
So, this was actually all you needed to know to write strong closing sentences and concluding each of your paragraphs effectively. With a concluding sentence written according to this guide, your paragraphs will be complete and just perfect.
