Which statement best describes cohesive devices in discourse?

• A. Cohesive devices link ideas using pronouns, conjunctions, and conjunctive adverbs
• B. Cohesive devices are primarily about articulation
• C. Cohesive devices refer to vocabulary size
• D. Cohesive devices are used to adjust pitch

Answer: (C)

Cohesive devices are tools that connect different parts of a discourse so the flow of ideas feels smooth and logically linked. This description is best because pronouns, conjunctions, and conjunctive adverbs are classic ways to show how ideas relate to one another—replacing repeated nouns with pronouns keeps references clear; conjunctions like and, but, or because join ideas to show addition, contrast, or cause; and conjunctive adverbs such as therefore, however, and consequently signal how one idea connects to the next. These elements help readers follow the argument or narrative without getting lost in abrupt jumps from one sentence to the next. In contrast, articulation concerns how speech sounds are produced, vocabulary size refers to how many words one knows rather than how those words are linked, and adjusting pitch relates to prosody rather than the connections between ideas.