Cohesion

Abstract

Pragmatics, as we have seen, consists of the presuppositions which lie behind utterances which enable us to relate one utterance to the next to form a coherent sequence of meaning within a text. Cohesion is a more visible means of providing the same way of linking utterances together so that they can be seen to belong to a single text. One needs only quote a straightforward example to make this clear. Consider the following two sentences:

7.1 Mrs Jones is coming to tea this afternoon. As she is going to visit the vicar first, she may be a little late.