The paragraph means a part of the text separated from the others and that is characterized by developing its own idea.
Separating a text into paragraphs guarantees the reader an order and facilitates their understanding
The establishment of paragraphs is a common practice in all types of discourse, be it scientific , literary , journalistic, etc.
From a formal point of view, paragraphs can be distinguished into three types:
- – The first is called the Spanish paragraph, characterized by an indentation at the beginning of the opening sentence and which is undoubtedly its most appreciated resource.
- – The second is called German paragraph, characterized by the absence of indents, it only differs because of a space that separates it from the rest of the text.
- – And finally, the so-called French paragraph, which has an indentation in all its lines except the first one; can be found to list items predominantly in dictionaries, bibliographies, etc.
In relation to time, the paragraph can be defined as a longer pause that refers to the evolution of a speech
This is worth emphasizing, because writing represents the peculiarities of orality in many aspects. Therefore, it is important that the separation into paragraphs is not arbitrary, but that it obeys the very reasons of the exposed idea.
Of course, there is no fixed and definitive rule regarding how the separation of any text into paragraphs should be, but in general semantic criteria are used to carry out the task in question.
Any text usually has an expository intention
For this he develops ideas and concepts that aim at a conclusion or an outcome. Each paragraph done in isolation is a unit of meaning that exposes a main thought and is surrounded by secondary aspects. Thus, each paragraph must have a small development on some topic inside.
On the other hand, a paragraph must be related to the rest of the text. That is why some paragraphs must have connectors that refer to past or future paragraphs , that is, they must show a perspective and a retrospective that guarantee the cohesion of the discourse. In this sense, a text that reveals deficiencies presents difficulties in its understanding.
