A PhD student sends a paragraph to her supervisor. Every sentence is grammatical, the terminology is correct, the citations are complete. The feedback is a single line: “I had to read this three times to see what you meant.” The problem is not vocabulary or grammar but how information is arranged within each sentence and linked between them.
Academic readers do not read sentences in isolation. They constantly predict what the next sentence will say based on the last one. When your sentences meet those predictions, reading flows. When every sentence opens with something entirely new, readers have to stop and rebuild the thread. The four techniques below work in any language, including English.
Technique 1: old information at the start, new information at the end
The start of a sentence is the bridge: put there what the reader already knows, usually something mentioned in the previous sentence. The end is the stress position: put there the new, important information you want the reader to carry forward.
Original:
“First-year dropout rates have risen over the past three years. Financial pressure, difficulty adapting to independent study and choosing the wrong course have been identified by many studies as causes. Peer mentoring schemes have been introduced by some universities.”
Rewritten:
“First-year dropout rates have risen over the past three years. Studies point to three main causes of this rise: financial pressure, difficulty adapting to independent study, and choosing the wrong course. To address the second of these, some universities have introduced peer mentoring.”
In the rewrite, each sentence begins with something just mentioned (“this rise”, “the second of these”) and ends with something new. Readers can see why the third sentence exists, which the original left unexplained.
Technique 2: keep a consistent topic string
Skim the grammatical subjects of every sentence in a paragraph. If they jump between five or six different things, the paragraph will feel disjointed even when the content is related. Good paragraphs usually repeat one or two subjects or variants of them.
| Scattered subjects | Consistent subjects |
|---|---|
| Dropout rates… / Financial pressure… / Universities… / Rural students… / Scholarship policy… | First-year students… / These students… / Those from rural areas… / They… / For this group, scholarships… |
You need not repeat one subject mechanically. The aim is for readers to feel the paragraph is about one thing, viewed from several angles.
Technique 3: short subjects, close to their verbs
Readers wait for the verb to find out what the subject does. The longer the subject, the longer the wait and the more likely the opening is forgotten.
Original: “The absence of systematic academic support mechanisms for first-year students from remote provinces during the early weeks of enrolment at many public universities is one of the factors…”
Rewritten: “Many public universities lack systematic academic support for first-year students from remote provinces. This gap…”
A working rule: if more than about fifteen words come before the main verb, split the sentence or restructure it.
Technique 4: cut back on nominalisation
Nominalisation turns actions into nouns: “conduct an investigation of” for “investigate”, “make a decision” for “decide”, “there was an increase in” for “X increased”. Academic writing needs some nominalisation to name concepts, but overuse makes sentences longer, more abstract and vague about who did what.
- “Data collection was carried out by the research team” → “The team collected the data.”
- “There was a difference in the level of satisfaction between the two groups” → “The two groups differed in satisfaction”, or better, say how they differed.
- “For the purpose of making a comparison” → “To compare”.
Easy signals in English are -tion, -ment and -ance nouns paired with weak verbs such as make, conduct, perform, carry out and have.
Linking words: to show relationships, not to decorate
Linking words (however, therefore, moreover, in contrast) tell readers the logical relationship between sentences. Using the wrong one is worse than using none. Two common errors:
- “Moreover” before a point that is really a consequence of the previous one, where “therefore” belongs.
- “However” at the start of nearly every sentence, until readers cannot tell which contrasts are real.
Often a summarising noun phrase (“this gap”, “that finding”, “the second approach”) links sentences better than a connector, because it both creates cohesion and reminds readers what you are talking about.
Sentence length: vary it, do not just shorten it
All short sentences make prose choppy; all long ones exhaust the reader. A good rhythm mixes longer explanatory sentences with short ones that land a key point. If a sentence has three or more subordinate clauses, or you run out of breath reading it aloud, split it.
A ten-minute routine for revising one paragraph
- Underline the subject of each sentence. Do they form a consistent string?
- Circle the opening of each sentence. Does it connect to the previous one?
- Count the words before each main verb. Rewrite any sentence with more than fifteen.
- Hunt for weak verb plus -tion or -ment noun, and try a single strong verb instead.
- Check each linking word: does it signal the right relationship?
- Read the paragraph aloud.
Try this routine on the opening paragraph of your Discussion, where readers most need to follow your reasoning. Revising one paragraph thoroughly will teach you more than any general advice on style.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
What is the given-new principle in writing?
It means arranging each sentence so it starts with information the reader already knows, often from the previous sentence, and ends with new, important information. This makes sentences connect naturally.
What is nominalisation and why avoid it?
Nominalisation turns verbs into nouns, as in “conduct an analysis” instead of “analyse”. Overuse makes writing long, abstract and unclear about who did what, so keep it only where you need to name a concept.
How long should sentences be in academic writing?
There is no fixed length. Mix longer and shorter sentences, and split any sentence with too many subordinate clauses or a very long subject before its main verb.
How can I make my academic paragraphs flow better?
Keep a consistent topic across sentence subjects, begin each sentence with something that links to the previous one, and choose linking words that match the logical relationship. Summarising phrases such as “this finding” often work better than connectors.
Is it wrong to use the passive voice in academic writing?
No. The passive is useful when the actor is unimportant or when it helps put familiar information first. If it creates a long subject and hides who did what, switch to the active voice.
