First, let’s review the basic structure of a paragraph.
All paragraphs are made up of three parts:
- Topic Sentence - This is a sentence, usually the first or second one, that describes the main idea and focus of your paragraph. In order to be effective, a topic sentence can’t be narrow, too broad, incomplete, or an announcement.
- Supporting Sentences - These are the sentences that give support to your topic sentence. They provide reasons and supporting details to expand upon your main idea and back it up with details and facts. In order to be effective, supporting sentences need to be focused, have supporting details, and be clearly related to the main idea.
- Concluding Sentence - The concluding sentence is usually the last sentence of the paragraph. Its job is to let the reader know that the topic has been fully developed.
In this lesson, we’ll focus on Concluding Sentences.
What is a concluding sentence?
The concluding sentence is the final sentence of your paragraph, which seems obvious and easy, as it is impossible to write a paragraph without a final sentence. However, the concluding sentence has to do more than just come at the end. There are two things the concluding sentence must do.
The first thing a concluding sentence should do is leave the reader with a sense of closure, meaning that the idea discussed in the paragraph is complete or finished. We usually do this with a phrase that lets the reader know the topic has been fully developed.
Here are a few examples of those kinds of phrases:
- As you can see,
- In brief,
- In conclusion,
- On the whole
- In sum,
- In short,
- To summarize,
- In summary,
- In the end,
Example concluding sentences
- In conclusion, all of us need to reduce the amount of single-use plastic items we use.
- In the end, the only real way to save money is not to spend it.
We don’t have to use these phrases in a concluding sentence as long as there is a feeling of completion.
- Even though it may not be as satisfying as buying a new phone every year, keeping your current phone for as long as possible is usually the best option.
The second thing your concluding sentence needs to do is to connect back to your topic sentence. It shouldn’t just be the topic sentence repeated, but it does need to refer to the topic and wrap up your idea about it.
- Topic Sentence: Buying less is beneficial because it saves you money, makes your house less cluttered, and is better for the environment.
- Concluding Sentence: In short, reducing the amount of things you buy will benefit your wallet, your house, and the planet we all share.
This is a strong concluding sentence because it wraps up the idea, and gives a sense of closure.