Your count
Say your homework number, and read the sentence where "why" finally arrives.
What holds a long text together
The proposal bio, marked up
"[Name], principal of [Practice Name] LLC, is a landscape designer licensed in California (B-C27) with a practice based in the San Francisco Bay Area."
"Trained in landscape design in Brazil, she has completed permitted residential projects across San Mateo, Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties, including a full impervious-surface reduction in Lafayette and a stair, deck and retaining-wall project in San Jose."
"Her scope of services covers design development, permit drawing sets, and construction-phase coordination with the client’s contractor."
Three sentences, one referent. Nothing in sentences two and three re-names her — everything after the first mention runs on pronoun and possessive alone.
Reference, relative clauses, and discourse markers
Three cohesion tools
| Tool | Does what | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Pronoun reference | Carries the subject forward without repeating the name | "[Name]… she has completed… her scope of services…" |
| Relative clause for definition | Defines a term inline, without a separate sentence | "a landscape designer, who is licensed but not a landscape architect, cannot use the protected title" |
| Discourse marker | Signals the relationship between two sentences | "including…" (adds detail) / "as a result…" (shows consequence) |
A defining relative clause is not decoration — it is where the designer/architect distinction actually gets stated in running prose, rather than as a separate warning sentence. "A landscape designer, who is not licensed as an architect, cannot use that title" does the defining and the disclaiming in one clause, which is exactly the density a professional bio needs.
The Portuguese pull. Portuguese relative clauses often repeat a resumptive pronoun where English drops it — a designer who she trained in Brazil. English relative pronouns replace the subject; they do not sit beside a second one.
Discourse markers for a long text
Listen and repeat.
Fix the reference
Complete each gap with the correct discourse marker or relative pronoun. One word per gap.
A landscape designer, is licensed but not a landscape architect, cannot use the protected title. She has completed projects across three counties, a full impervious-surface reduction in Lafayette. a result, her scope of services now regularly includes construction-phase coordination.
Each sentence has one cohesion error. Rewrite it.
1. A landscape designer, who she trained in Brazil, is licensed under B-C27.
2. She has completed projects in three counties. She has completed a project in Lafayette.
3. Her scope of services covers design and permitting. However, it also includes construction-phase coordination with the contractor.
Extend your own bio
Task card
The one-sentence bio you gave in Lesson 2
Extend it to three sentences, using at least one relative clause and one discourse marker.
- Do not repeat your own name after the first sentence.
- The relative clause should define something a US reader might not know — "paisagismo," for instance.
- Say it aloud, then write it down exactly as you said it.
Did you repeat your own name?
Count how many times you said your own name or "I am a landscape designer" again after the first sentence. Any repeat is a missed pronoun.
Before the next lesson
Homework. Pick one real fact about one of your projects — a number, a material, an outcome. Next lesson you say it four different ways.