The building blocks of written language
There are different levels of structure within written language. A good way to remember these is through the diagram below.
Text
A text is a complete piece of writing. A text can be very short, such as a “No Parking” sign, or much longer, such as an essay, a chapter from a book, or even a whole book.
Paragraph
In academic writing, most texts are divided into paragraphs. There are no “rules” which determine how many paragraphs you should have in a text, or where one paragraph should end and another begins. Decisions about where to end a paragraph and start a new one will depend on the writer’s perception of how ideas in different sentences are related to one another, of when you are moving from one point to a new one. In the main body of an essay in academic writing, we advise you to have one main idea for each paragraph.
Sentence
Sentences start with a capital letter and end with a full stop. Some sentences are short, and others are long and complicated, for example;
![“In Europe, (food waste)[yellow] (is considered)[blue] a major nutritional and environmental problem.” “Although (food waste at the retail stage)[yellow] (may be considered)[blue] small in comparison with the amount of food waste overall, (it)[yellow] (is)[blue] still a big issue (which)[yellow] (can lead)[blue] to significant economic loss as well as environmental and social problems.”](https://cdn-wordpress-info.futurelearn.com/info/wp-content/uploads/41a03dc0-6c4c-4656-8205-257768eb11b2.png)
Clause
“In Europe food waste is considered a major nutritional and environmental problem.”
“Although food waste at the retail stage may be considered small in comparison with the amount of food waste overall,“it is still a big issue”“which can lead to significant economic loss as well as environmental and social problems.”
Clauses can be joined to one another by conjunctions (eg and, but, although) or by relative pronouns (eg who, which, that).
Phrase
Phrases are groups of words which go together. Here are some examples from the sentences above.
| Noun phrases | food waste, a major nutritional and environmental problem |
| Verb phrases | may be considered, can lead to |
| Prepositional phrases | as well as, in comparison with |
There are other types of phrases, too.
| Adjective phrases | extremely difficult, more and more expensive |
| Adverb phrases | on the other hand, in contrast |
Notice that each phrase includes several parts of speech, so that in each phrase you need to look for the key word, for example;
“a major nutritional and environmental problem“
“extremely difficult”
In addition, you also need to look at the function of the phrase. So, “on the other hand” and “in contrast” function as adverbs (like “however”), even though there is no adverb in the phrase.
Word
You know what a word is!
An Intermediate Guide to Writing in English for University Study
An Intermediate Guide to Writing in English for University Study
Reach your personal and professional goals
Unlock access to hundreds of expert online courses and degrees from top universities and educators to gain accredited qualifications and professional CV-building certificates.
Join over 18 million learners to launch, switch or build upon your career, all at your own pace, across a wide range of topic areas.
