Here is a draft profile of my best friend using noun phrases and pronouns: My best friend Sarah is an avid reader who loves escaping into new worlds. Sarah spends most of her free time curled up with a book. In the first paragraph, I refer to Sarah as "the bookworm". In the second paragraph, I use pronouns like "she" and "her" to avoid directly repeating Sarah's name. Sarah's favorite genres are fantasy and science fiction. She finds the imagination and creativity in these stories truly inspiring. Lately, she has been enjoying the Harry Potter series. When she's not reading, Sarah enjoys playing soccer. As the goalkeeper on our school team, she takes her position very seriously.

1. Identify noun phrases and pronouns
Suggest noun phrases
Use noun phrases and pronouns to avoid
repetition
2: Cohesion
Can I use pronouns and noun phrases to
create cohesion in my writing?

2. Noun-phrases can be used instead of nouns to avoid repetition. Look at the
opening of an article about Wrexham FC’s impressive victory over Wimbledon. How
has the writer avoided repeating the (proper) noun ‘Wrexham’?
Wrexham move into third with Wimbledon win
WREXHAM banished the memory of Saturday’s
Racecourse mauling in the best possible fashion by
scalping Conference Premier leaders Wimbledon in
front of their own fans at Kingsmeadow last night.
And it was no fluke, the Dragons an altogether more
solid and impressive team than they had been against
Gateshead three days before.
Mathias Pogba scored the vital goal 14 minutes from
time to take Dean Saunders’ men into third place in the
table above Luton Town who were not in action last
night.

3. The proper noun ‘Wrexham’ has been swapped for the noun phrases ‘the Dragons’
and ‘Dean Saunders’ men’, to avoid repetition.
Wrexham move into third with Wimbledon win
WREXHAM banished the memory of Saturday’s
Racecourse mauling in the best possible fashion by
scalping Conference Premier leaders Wimbledon in
front of their own fans at Kingsmeadow last night.
And it was no fluke, the Dragons an altogether more
solid and impressive team than they had been against
Gateshead three days before.
Mathias Pogba scored the vital goal 14 minutes from
time to take Dean Saunders’ men into third place in the
table above Luton Town who were not in action last
night.

4. Imagine you’re writing a character study of Oliver Twist. What noun phrases could you
use to avoid repetition of the proper noun ‘Oliver’?

5. Imagine you’re writing a character study of Macbeth. What noun phrases could you
use to avoid repetition of the proper noun ‘Oliver’?
The character
The protagonist
Shakespeare’s character
The soldier
The hero
The man
The husband…

6. Look again at the report of Wrexham’s fine victory. In paragraphs 1 and 2, which
single words have been used to refer to the teams? (i.e. What has been swapped for the
proper nouns)?
Wrexham move into third with Wimbledon win
WREXHAM banished the memory of Saturday’s
Racecourse mauling in the best possible fashion by
scalping Conference Premier leaders Wimbledon in
front of their own fans at Kingsmeadow last night.
And it was no fluke, the Dragons an altogether more
solid and impressive team than they had been against
Gateshead three days before.
Mathias Pogba scored the vital goal 14 minutes from
time to take Dean Saunders’ men into third place in the
table above Luton Town who were not in action last
night.

7. Words like ‘their’ and ‘they’ are pronouns. Pronouns are words like I, it, which,
who, that, his, herself. They are used in place of a noun or a noun phrase.
To avoid repetition, we use a pronoun for the second and subsequent mentions
of the same person or thing...
• The dog was barking. It was annoying.
• I heard the fire alarm. Did you hear it?
• I was thinking about a quick snack. Were you
thinking about that, too?
• She had been dreading this moment. Farzana
hated exams.
• Romeo and Juliet were selfish and only pleased
themselves.

8. Activity
Write a profile of your best friend. Talk about their likes
and dislikes, and what makes them such a great person.
Try to use their name only once per paragraph.
What kind of noun phrases could you use?
“the thirteen year old”, “the Mulberry student”, “the keen scientist”...
What about pronouns?
“she”, “her”, “herself”...

9. Complete the profile of your best friend.
After you’ve written it, highlight all the words you’ve
swapped for their name (i.e. noun phrases and pronouns),
so your teacher can see the range of words you use to
create cohesion in your writing!

10. Complete the profile of your best friend.
After you’ve written it, highlight all the words you’ve
swapped for their name (i.e. noun phrases and pronouns),
so your teacher can see the range of words you use to
create cohesion in your writing!