Spanish Text Cohesion and Style: Avoiding Repetition
By Michael McGettrick and Sergio Linares-HernandesUpdated 12 October 2026
Cohesion is what makes one sentence lean on the last. The same facts, written twice:
Quick check
Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.
Spot the mistake
0/3Each sentence has one mistake. Tap it.
Madrid. . 1998.- The writer was born in Madrid. The writer wrote a lot. The writer died in 1998.Madrid, . 1998.- The writer was born in Madrid, where he wrote a lot. The aforementioned author died in 1998.
The first is correct and clatters. The second names the writer once and points back at him.
Cohesion at a glance
The whole toolkit on one screen. The sections below take each tool in turn.
| Tool | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| dropped subject | . | She was born in and was a teacher. |
| object pronoun | . | I read it in two days. |
| demonstrative | 1998. | The aforementioned author died in 1998. |
| synonym | Nobel. | The poet won the Nobel. |
| neuter , | . | I didn't know (that). |
| ellipsis | , . | I want coffee and she, tea. |
| signpost | , . | In short, it isn't worth it. |
| nominalisation | | growth (from ) |
Reference: never repeat a noun
Once a noun is on the table, Spanish points back at it rather than saying it again. A short biography of the Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral uses every tool and names her once:
| Tool | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| first mention | Gabriela Mistral 1889. | Gabriela Mistral was born in in 1889. |
| dropped subject | . | She was a teacher before she was famous. |
| synonym | 1945, Nobel. | In 1945, the poet won the Nobel Prize. |
| object pronoun | . | Many people still read her today. |
| demonstrative | Dicha autora 1957. | The aforementioned author died in 1957. |
The dropped subject does the most work. The verb ending already says who, so Spanish needs no "she" at all:
. . Nobel.- She was born in. She was a teacher. She won the Nobel.
The tools run from light to heavy. and dicha (the said, the aforementioned) belong to essays, reports and the law; in conversation, is enough:
- (no word): escribió
- a pronoun: la leí
- este autor
- dicho autor
Lo and ello: pointing back at a whole idea
Sometimes what you point back at is not a noun but a whole fact. Then Spanish uses the neuter: as an object, or as a subject, and after a preposition in formal writing.
| Points back with | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| (object) | , . | He/she said he/she was getting married, but I knew. |
| (subject) | . | He/she arrived late and that annoyed me. |
, , . | It was raining, so we didn't go out. | |
| a | ; , . | It was raining; despite that, we went out. |
is the formal, written twin of . works in writing too, and in speech it does the job almost everywhere.
Ellipsis: leaving out what the reader knows
If the reader can refill a word, Spanish leaves it out. When the missing word is a verb, a comma usually marks the gap (in a short sentence that cannot be misread, the RAE lets you leave it out):
| What goes | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| the verb | ; , . | Some prefer the sea; others, the mountains. |
| the verb | ; , . | I arrived at eight; you, at nine. |
| the noun | , . | I want the red car, not the blue one. |
| the noun | Ana. | My house is bigger than Ana's. |
English needs "one" or "'s" where Spanish keeps just the article: (the blue one), Ana (Ana's).
Signposting: telling the reader where they are
Discourse markers show the shape of an argument before the reader has to work it out. The ordering ones run from the first point to the last:
- En primer lugar
- En segundo lugar
- Por último
- En resumen
| Job | Markers |
|---|---|
| ordering points | , , |
| two sides | , , |
| highlighting | , |
| saying it again | , |
| closing | , , |
One example of each job:
, ; , .- Firstly, the climate is mild; secondly, the food is excellent.; , .- On the one hand it's cheap; on the other, it's a long way away..- It is worth pointing out that nobody protested., , Madrid.- He/she lives in the capital of Spain, that is, in Madrid.; , .- The plan is expensive; all in all, it isn't worth it.
The connectors inside an argument ( , , ) have their own pages: contrast and cause and consequence.
Given before new
A paragraph flows when each sentence starts from something the reader already has and ends on something new. The new part of one sentence becomes the start of the next:
.- The novel is about a journey..- The journey crosses three countries..- The last one is the most dangerous.
Spanish will even put the subject after the verb so that the new information comes last:
¿ ? .- Who won? My sister won.
More on this in word order.
Nominalisation: the formal register
Formal Spanish (essays, reports, the news) turns verbs and adjectives into nouns. It sounds objective and packs an idea into a phrase:
| Verb or adjective | Noun | English |
|---|---|---|
| | growth |
| | arrival |
| | decision |
| | importance |
| | development |
The same fact in two registers:
, .- When prices go up, people buy less. (everyday)subida .- The rise in prices reduces consumption. (formal)
The formal style pairs with the impersonal , which removes the person doing it: . (The data were analysed.) See the passive and impersonal se. In a message to a friend, keep the plain verb.
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| shortens before a noun | |
| is feminine | |
| a | | after a preposition, |
| no (a fact) | | a whole fact takes |
| no before this |
A common flaw is not a mistake at all: a run of short sentences joined by y... y... y. Swap in a signpost, a pronoun or a full stop.
What to do next
- Take your last paragraph in Spanish and make sure no noun appears three times.
- Do the story, sort and spot-the-
drills below. - Then register and formality, and the other end of the scale: informal Spanish.