What are 7 Different Types of Paragraphs? (With Examples)

A paragraph is a break-up of the text into various segments. This article will help you to get a better understanding of various types of paragraphs. 

What if you have to read a novel of 80 to 100 pages without any breaks? You would get bored and start losing interest. But if the same novel is divided into smaller sections you would love to read it. Those sections in the novels are known as paragraphs. It makes it simple for the readers to understand the content. Although almost all of us know what paragraphs are, most of us don’t know their types.

Quick Takeaways

• The following are the most common type of paragraphs –

Explanatory
Persuasive
Descriptive
Narrative
Comparative
Illustrative
Cause and effect paragraphs

However, do not forget to read till the end so that you get a better understanding of each of the paragraphs and do not get confused between them.

What is a paragraph?

The word paragraph is derived from the Greek word “Paragraphos” which means to write beside. A paragraph is a break-up of the text into various segments. It is a collection of more than 2 sentences that are arranged according to the point of the context. The content in the single paragraph revolves around a single point.

A new paragraph starts with the next line. A paragraph may consist of any type of information. It may represent illustrations related to the topic or it may give information about the topic. You might confuse paragraphs with essays. Thus it is important to understand how a paragraph is different from an essay.

Difference between a paragraph and an essay

A paragraph includes multiple sentences, whereas an essay is a collection of paragraphs. In short, we can say a paragraph is part of an essay. Although both have some similarities like topic sentences, supporting details, and conclusion. The way they work for paragraphs and an essay is different. For example, you will see a paragraph always ending with the conclusion statement. On the other hand, an essay ends with a conclusion paragraph. 

Different Types of Paragraphs

The following are different types of paragraphs-

1. Descriptive Paragraphs

From the name itself, we can conclude that this type of paragraph describes the subject of the paragraph. The subject can be a person, place, idea, or thing. The topic sentence in this paragraph tells you about the subject and the supporting details give information related to it. All such paragraphs generally describe the Smell, taste, sound, and looks.

For example, you are writing about a house, and you want to add a descriptive paragraph to it. You can write it as:

“The house included two rooms along with an attached washroom and one single kitchen. It was small and beautiful at the same time. The interior used in the house makes it look aesthetic. “

Here in this paragraph, we have described the features of the house and how the house looks by adding the interior.

2. Narrative Paragraphs

Such paragraphs usually depict the story of the subject or an event. They are considered “building blocks” when you are explaining a story. Every event in this paragraph should be shaped in a chronicle manner. In this type of paragraph, you must involve the central idea of the story. It must also contain information about the characteristics involved in that event.

You must also remember to add a conclusion line. In the beginning, you should start by describing the problem. It should be followed up with important activities and should be ended at the end of the story. 

For example, you have to explain an incident to someone else that happen to you last month. You can write it like this:

“Last month when I visited my mother in Delhi, she looked stressed and happy at the same time. I went o her and asked how she was doing. She told me that she was fine but in a stressed tone. I asked her why she was so stressed and she told me about the robbery happening in a near house.”

Now in the above paragraph, you can see a proper story is being depicted and the events explained are in a chronic manner. Also, you can see that the paragraph shows the main character which is your mother.

3. Illustrative Paragraphs

Illustrative paragraphs are the ones that give you an idea about the subject with the help of examples. It includes the information to explain the examples. Also, you can use a lot of instances to convince the reader of the story. 

“For example, you want to prove a theory: demand increases with the decrease in price. You will be giving examples like when a normal consumer goes to purchase a good they look for the lowest price of a similar price. Thus it depicts that the demand increases with an increase in time. “

The above paragraph shows that you have used the example of the common customer for explaining the illustrative paragraph.

4. Persuasive Paragraphs

They are also known as argumentative paragraphs. This type of paragraph will include the writer’s opinion about the subject. Such types of paragraphs are usually used in controversial topics or editorial speeches. You must involve facts and figures to support your opinion. Additionally, you can also use rhetorical questions to persuade the audience. Persuasive paragraphs include a lot of dedication and passion.  This type of paragraph is the most common while writing a debate.

For example, you are of the opinion that students must play outdoor games. So you can include a persuasive paragraph as:

“Physical activities have a crucial role in staying healthy. Thus encouraging your child to play outdoor games becomes more important. It will not only help them to stay fit but will also help in improving their mental health. Not only this there are many types of research that depict kids who are into outdoor games or activities are more likely to learn a lot of new words.”

Here you can see that we have added the facts and give them the actual benefits of encouraging the child to go for outdoor activities.

5. Explanatory Paragraphs

The explanatory paragraph is used within the content where you need to give information related to how the particular thing works. Such paragraphs help the readers to get a guide to using a particular product. This type of paragraph is usually found in the content related to the use of a specific product or in the process of making something. 

For example, if you want to show how an organization works, then you will be including an explanatory paragraph as:

“Every organization has an HR who will be responsible for hiring the people. They will also have managers for different to manage the activities in the department. These managers help to divide the work between all the employees.”

The above paragraphs show how the working of the organization is divided among the people.

6. Comparison Paragraphs

As the name suggests, comparison paragraphs are those paragraphs that will include a comparison between two or more things. In this type of paragraph, you will find a lot of comparative points. It includes similarities and dissimilarities of the subjects. This helps the audience to make their decision regarding the subjects. This type of paragraph is usually built up according to 2 arrangements-

• Point-by-point structure in which you will start with a single comparison and then move to the next one. Suppose you have to do a comparison between demand and supply, you will be writing as:
  • When price increases, demand decreases whereas supply will increase.
  • Demand is explained by considering the consumer and supply is explained by considering the supplier.

• Whole-to-whole structure in which you will get all the comparison points of one subject and then move to the comparison points for the other subject. Now let us take the same example as above, doing a comparison between supply and demand-
  • When price increases, demand decreases whereas supply will increase. Further, demand is explained by considering the consumer, and supply is explained by considering the supplier.

7. Cause & Effect Paragraphs

This paragraph usually includes the cause-and-effect relationship of the subject. The paragraph always started with the cause portion and ended up with the effect part. Add transitions to the paragraphs so that it could be easy for the audience to read them. You can use transitions like as a result, also, short-term effects, etc. 

For example, let us again take the example of global warming. For it, the causes and effect paragraph can be included as:

“With increased time, global warming has become a crucial problem. The main cause of it is the release of greenhouse gases that are caused due to the excess use of fossil fuels, cutting down of trees, etc. It has resulted in increasing sea levels, reduction in glaciers, etc.”

The above paragraph depicts the cause and effect of global warming.

When writing paragraphs you also need to make sure that your paragraph doesn’t contain any Plagiarism which is too bad for your writing.

Basic Paragraph Structure

When you are writing a paragraph, always remember the basic format of the paragraph. There are 3 components of it-

1. Topic Sentence

The first sentence of the paragraph is usually called the topic sentence. It helps to depict what type of information will be there in the paragraph. You should write in such a manner that the reader could get an idea about what to expect next in it.

2. Supporting Details

Supporting detail helps to support the topic sentence of the paragraph. You can keep it long or short. It depends on your preference.

3. Conclusion Sentence

The conclusion Sentence is vital for any paragraph. It will help the audience to get an outline of the whole paragraph. In short, it will wind up the details you have provided in the whole paragraph more precisely.

Conclusion

Paragraphs are important for the success of any writing. Without paragraphs, it becomes boring for the reader to read any type of content. Although paragraphs play a crucial factor in any writing, there are so many types of them. The article gives an outline of the various forms of paragraphs and what is the basic structure of writing a paragraph. 

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