This article presents and illustrates a formal model of linguistic analysis in order to explain a phenomenon that is fundamental to translators in their practice: the construction of coherence. First, the role of paragraphs in the construction of coherence is explained with the application of the model to a newspaper editorial. It is shown, in particular, how a change in the paragraph division of this text affects its meaning. Second, the article underlines the theoretical usefulness and practical limitations of text linguistics for translation studies. In this sense, this article calls for a better understanding between specialists in both fields. (Contains 2 figures and 4 footnotes.)