Once a paragraph’s details are in a clear order, it needs an ending. A concluding sentence tells the reader the point is finished and leaves them with the main idea.
Key idea
A concluding sentence wraps up the paragraph: it restates the main idea in new words, sums up the support, or states a result. It doesn’t copy the topic sentence, and it doesn’t start a new idea.
Why it works
Strunk’s rule 9 (1918) says to end a paragraph “in conformity with the beginning”: the last sentence “either emphasizes the thought of the topic sentence or states some important consequence.” The reader leaves the paragraph knowing exactly what it showed.
Worked example: Three kinds of endings
Write a concluding sentence for a paragraph whose topic sentence is “Bats help farmers.”
- Restate in new words: “Bats are a farmer’s quiet allies.”
- Sum up the support: “By eating pests and spreading seeds, bats save crops.”
- State a result: “Protecting bats can mean bigger harvests.”
Answer: Any of the three works; each returns to the idea that bats help farmers.
Worked example: What’s wrong with this ending?
Topic sentence: “Bats help farmers.” Ending: “Also, some bats live for more than thirty years.”
- “Also” signals one more point, not an ending.
- How long bats live is a new idea, unrelated to farming.
- A new idea at the end leaves the reader expecting more.
Answer: It starts a new idea instead of closing the main one.
Common mistake
Copying the topic sentence word for word, or bringing in a new idea at the very end. Check: cover the topic sentence and read your last sentence. It should point back to the same idea, in different words.
Not every paragraph needs a formal concluding sentence. In a longer essay, the last sentence of a body paragraph often links to the next paragraph instead. Short stand-alone paragraphs, like answers on a test, benefit most from a clear close.