Identifying Irrelevant Sentences in a Passage

Irrelevant sentences can detract from the meaning of a passage. This lesson will explain what an irrelevant sentence is and demonstrate ways to identify them in a passage. We will end with a short quiz to test what you have learned

What Is an Irrelevant Sentence?

Take a brief moment to read the following passage:

The farm is filled with chickens. The chickens are fed grain twice a day. The truck is red. The chickens on the farm lay lots of eggs.

Did anything stand out in the passage? Were you distracted or confused by any of the sentences in the passage? The sentence about the red truck didn't seem to fit, did it? The other sentences were about chickens. The last thing most readers would expect to see in a passage about chickens is a sentence telling us the truck is red. Simply stated, it doesn't fit in and is not related to the topic of the passage.

Irrelevant sentences are those that do not support the main idea of the passage. Again, the red truck sentence did not connect to the main idea of chickens, so it seemed out of place or irrelevant in the example mentioned earlier. Irrelevant sentences distract readers and upset the flow of passages. Therefore, they should be avoided.

Now that we know what irrelevant sentences are, let's take a closer look at ways we can identify them.

Identifying Irrelevant Sentences

As we mentioned, irrelevant sentences distract readers from the main point of the passage. This is because they do not relate to or support the main idea. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid using irrelevant sentences in writing and to be able to spot them as a reader. The simplest way to identify irrelevant sentences in a passage is to ask yourself the following three questions:

1. What is the main idea of the passage? The main idea of a passage is the overall topic. From our example, the main idea is chickens. As a reader, it is important to understand the main idea of text. As a writer, it is important to construct sentences to support your main idea.
2. Does each sentence in the passage relate to or support that main idea? To revisit our example passage from earlier in the lesson, the three sentences that discuss chickens support the main idea of chickens. The sentence about the red truck does not. This sentence does not support or relate to the main idea. It is an irrelevant sentence.
3. 3. Are there sentences that seem disconnected or that distract me as a reader? Any sentence that seems distracting is probably an irrelevant sentence. Accordingly, sentences that do not connect to the main idea should be avoided. Asking yourself about distracting sentences and those that seem out of place is a solid step toward identifying irrelevant sentences in a passage.

Practice Examples

Now that we've learned what irrelevant sentences are and how to identify them in a passage, let's practice doing so. Read the following passage:

Football is a popular sport. Football can be played in two formats: tackle football and flag football. Both types of football require special equipment. Snack food at stadiums is expensive.

Okay, now that you've read the passage, let's move through the three questions for identifying irrelevant sentences. What is the main idea of the passage? The main idea is football. Does each sentence in the passage support the main idea? No! There is a sentence that does not connect to the topic of football. Are there sentences that were distracting or disconnected from the main topic? The sentence about stadium snacks was distracting, wasn't it? It did not do anything to support the main topic of football, so it should be removed.