Paragraph Formation

About Paragraph Formation

A paragraph formation question gives the same four sentences and asks a narrower question: which one opens the paragraph, or which one comes immediately after the opening sentence. Finding the opening sentence is the step that makes the rest of the paragraph follow, and it is worth practising on its own before attempting to arrange all four.

What you need to understand

The opening sentence introduces. It cannot refer, because there is nothing yet to refer to.

So the opening sentence never begins with a connective of sequence, and never begins with a pronoun or a demonstrative.

It usually names something with a or an rather than the, because the paragraph has not mentioned it before.

The second sentence is the one that refers back to the opening sentence: the something, this, or a connective such as then or after that.

The closing sentence is the one carrying finally, in the end or today.

The same paragraph supports several questions of this kind, which is why this topic and ordering of sentences share the material but not the task.

How to work through these questions

Read all four sentences and mark the ones that point backwards.

A sentence beginning with this, these, it, they, their or both is ruled out as the opening sentence at once.

A sentence whose first noun takes the is ruled out unless the paragraph has already introduced that thing, which it cannot have done in the opening position.

What remains is the opening sentence: the one that needs nothing before it.

For the second sentence, look for the one that refers back to what the opening sentence named: the same noun with the, or a connective such as then or after that.

Check your answer by reading the opening sentence and your choice together. If your choice could not follow it, it is not the answer.

Mistakes that cost marks

Taking the sentence printed first as the opening sentence. The printed order is deliberately jumbled.
Choosing the shortest sentence, or the one that sounds most like an opening, instead of applying the rule.
Overlooking that a sentence beginning the bridge needs a bridge to have been mentioned already.
Confusing the opening sentence with the second sentence when both read as though they could begin.
Answering with a sentence instead of with its letter.

Worked example

Which of these should open the paragraph? P. The clay was then left in the sun until most of the water had gone. Q. After that it was kneaded on a heavy stone wheel. R. A potter once dug a lump of clay from the river bank. S. Finally the shaped pot was baked in a shallow kiln.

Rule out P: it begins with The clay, which needs clay to have been mentioned already.
Rule out Q: it begins with After that, a connective of sequence, so it cannot be first.
Rule out S: it begins with Finally, which can only close a paragraph.
That leaves R, which introduces a potter and a lump of clay with a, and needs nothing before it.
The answer is R. Read it before any of the others and it works; read any of the others first and it does not.

Answer: R

Practice questions with answers

A few Paragraph Formation questions with the full solution shown, so you can see how the method is applied before you attempt the timed set.

Question 1

Choose the sentence that should come first if these sentences are to form a paragraph: P. Eventually it was woven into a shawl for the winter.
Q. A weaver once dyed a length of wool with onion skins.
R. The wool was boiled with the skins for an hour.
S. After that it was rinsed until the water ran clear.

Answer: Option B — with explanation

The opening sentence has to stand on its own: it cannot begin with a connective that points backwards, and it cannot use a definite article for something the paragraph has not yet mentioned. The sentence that does neither is the one that opens it. Common mistakes - this sentence comes later in the paragraph, so it is not the one asked for: S - this sentence comes later in the paragraph, so it is not the one asked for: R - this sentence comes later in the paragraph, so it is not the one asked for: P

Question 2

Choose the sentence that should come first if these sentences are to form a paragraph: P. After that the figure was written on the back of the calendar.
Q. A family once kept a rain gauge on the kitchen windowsill.
R. Eventually thirty years of figures were given to the weather station.
S. The gauge was read every morning before breakfast.

Answer: Option C — with explanation

Question 3

Which of these sentences belongs at the beginning of the paragraph? P. After that a bell was hung in the upper chamber.
Q. Today the bell is rung only on the first of January.
R. A town once raised a clock tower in the middle of the market square.
S. The tower was built of the local grey stone.

Answer: Option D — with explanation

The opening sentence has to stand on its own: it cannot begin with a connective that points backwards, and it cannot use a definite article for something the paragraph has not yet mentioned. The sentence that does neither is the one that opens it. Common mistakes - this sentence comes later in the paragraph, so it is not the one asked for: S - this sentence comes later in the paragraph, so it is not the one asked for: P - this sentence comes later in the paragraph, so it is not the one asked for: Q

Question 4

One of these sentences should open the paragraph. Which one? P. A planter once cleared a slope for a small tea garden.
Q. After that the slope was shaded by taller trees.
R. Finally the first leaves were picked by hand.
S. The garden was then planted with bushes in rows along the contour.

Answer: Option A — with explanation

The opening sentence has to stand on its own: it cannot begin with a connective that points backwards, and it cannot use a definite article for something the paragraph has not yet mentioned. The sentence that does neither is the one that opens it. Common mistakes - this sentence comes later in the paragraph, so it is not the one asked for: R - this sentence comes later in the paragraph, so it is not the one asked for: Q - this sentence comes later in the paragraph, so it is not the one asked for: S

Question 5

Which sentence should come immediately after the opening sentence of the paragraph? P. The holes were packed with a slow-burning powder.
Q. A quarryman once drilled a line of holes into the rock face.
R. After that the face was brought down in a single fall.
S. Finally the broken stone was carted away for road metal.

Answer: Option D — with explanation

The opening sentence is the one that needs nothing before it. The sentence that follows it is the one whose connective points back at what the opening sentence said. Common mistakes - this sentence comes later in the paragraph, so it is not the one asked for: Q - this sentence comes later in the paragraph, so it is not the one asked for: R - this sentence comes later in the paragraph, so it is not the one asked for: S

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from ordering of sentences?

Ordering of sentences asks for the whole arrangement, which means settling all four positions. This topic asks only about the opening, or about the sentence immediately after it, so there is less to hold in mind at once.

Why can the opening sentence not begin with the?

Because the marks a thing as already known. In the opening position nothing is known yet, so a paragraph cannot begin that way. The exception is a general statement, which these questions avoid.

Is the longest sentence usually the opening one?

No. Length has nothing to do with it. Apply the rule: the opening sentence is the one that needs nothing before it.

Can a paragraph open with finally?

Only if the paragraph is a summary of something already said, which is not the situation here. In these questions finally marks the last sentence.