What does coherently mean?
Word: Coherently
Part of Speech: Adverb
Meaning: Coherently means in a clear and sensible way, with each idea following on from the one before.
Synonyms: clearly
Antonyms: incoherently, confusedly
How do you spell coherently?
Syllables: co - her - ent - ly
Tricky part: The middle is ent, not ant, as in coherent and coherence; pupils who hear only a weak vowel write coherantly.
Watch out for: coherantly, coherintly, coherrently
Memory tip: Coherent has an e on each side of its r, h-e-r-e, and then nt: there is no a anywhere near the end.
Coherently in a sentence
Example 1: After the long trek, Arjun was too tired to speak coherently.
Example 2: Write your answer coherently, with one main idea in each paragraph.
Example 3: The debate champion argued calmly and coherently against the motion.
Fun Fact
The Latin root behind coherently, cohaerere, to stick together, also gives cohesion, the pull that makes water molecules cling to each other.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
coherently
a) loudly
b) hurriedly
c) logically
d) nervously
Show answer
c) logically. Speaking coherently means each point follows logically from the last.
Word Makeup
Choose the suffix that completes the word:
coherent____
a) lly
b) ly
c) ley
d) ely
Show answer
b) ly. Coherent is already a full adjective, so it simply takes ly.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) accidentaly
b) coherently
c) seperately
d) imediately
Show answer
b) coherently. Separately has par in the middle, accidentally a double l, and immediately a double m.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
nocelyhter
a) inherently
b) coherently
c) concurrently
d) conveniently
Show answer
b) coherently. Only one option has a c and an h but no i, and it has ten letters.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A teacher praises an essay for being written coherently. What does she like about it?
a) its ideas link together well
b) it uses many long words
c) it was finished before time
d) it has very neat handwriting
Show answer
a) its ideas link together well
2. What would make a speech less coherent?
a) keeping to the main topic
b) giving one clear example
c) jumping from topic to topic
d) summing up at the end
Show answer
c) jumping from topic to topic
