STYLE Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace EIGHTH EDITION Joseph M. Williams } ‘he Univers henge f 2005 ;36 Seer tnt i cron Grace ‘Verbs and Actions ‘Our principle is this: A senance seams clear whe ite important ac- tions vein serbs. Look at how sentences (én) and (00) express {hee actions. In (6a), setons (boldface) are not verbe (expel lead); they are nouns 4. Oar lack of data marvarzD evaluation of UN actions in {arpoing finds to arse mon need of aula, ‘nb, on the other hand, the actions ae alsos all verbs 78, Boose we ack din, we could nt ettenre whether the UN ‘sa ranobre nao sens toe NEEDED anita Your readers wil think your writing is dense if you use los of ststact nouns, especially ones derived fom verbs and ABCs, ‘nouns ending in tion, -ment, -eiog ad 20 on, especially when ‘hase nouns ae subject of verbs ‘Such nouns havea technical name: nominaeaton, The werd ilustrates Its own meaning: When we nottinalize nomiualize, ‘ese he nomination nmalton Hee ae a ew ‘VERB NOMINALIZATION ADJECTIVE + NOMMIALZATION licover > dizovery —earelss + —carelesinese ress resstance erst” + —aliference + rescion protest + proiincy “We canslo sominalize a verb by adding ng (makingta cenux} ‘hele her fying We sang our singing ‘Some nominalzations and verbs are identical hhope-+hope result result, ‘We nurse tht ou va he data, ‘urrequests tht yu 90 review ofthe da, (Some actions an alco hidein adjectives: ti applicable itaplies Some others dicaing, dubious, aumentatve, deserving) [No feature of style more characterias abstract, incnet, if- cult academe and professional writing than lots of nominllza slons expecially when toy are subjects of eb, repair repair nen? scion 37 “lee the points. ingrade sche), we ene ht bjs se chameters (or “aoetr) and at verb are acon, ats ‘tueimg settee ke he sie. ee ie" > lect she pie, ‘Butt ot true for this almost synonymous sentence: rapa TE tase age dca. © ‘We can moj characters and actions almost wherever! we ‘want in & sentence, ad subjects anid.verbs don't have to be Say ering a cme tei aprile gal rareden le ete ee ‘match thers yp pags of yl sentenpes-your readers ate ‘likely to thik your peote is clear and dizect, Serer Bwercise 3.1 ‘Analyze the subjecticharseter and verbsction pater ‘There sopponion among many voters onacee power paate thse oa bel thelr treat obama ea Many wters oppose alae powerplants beceuse they belive ‘hat such plants threaten urna heh Exercise 3.2 1f you are uncersin chat jou can dsingulsh verbs, aie tes and nominations, turn she veror and aectives ‘row ince nominaizaions and nominations back into Ssjecves and verb. Remeber tht some verbs and na ‘alialons have the same for over redial casts i ob Powrty i pre nore fs pens, :38 Sy tn son Cty ance sage: elleve tempt conhaon syproach —somparton deine feprecion fale imaliget thorough emphasize planation deecpion Seat Exercise 3.3 create sentences using verbs and adjetves from Exercise 32. ‘Then rewrite them wsing the corresponding nominations (ep the mesning the same). For example, using suggest di ‘ess, and cure, erie "acer Sate mscss theese aR ne, ‘Then rewrite tha Sentence nos nominalize form: My suggestions that ou discussion ofthe sve be de with Only when you sée how a clear sentenee an be made unclear ‘willyou understand why iseemed lene in the fat lace DIAGNosis AND REVISION ‘Yu can use the principles to explain why your readers wil judge your proses they do. But mare importa, you canals we hers to identify sentences that your readers would want you to reise, ‘nd then fo revise them Revising lea nee step process diagnose 1. Diagnose. To predit how a readse will judge your se, do ts 4 Tgnring short Gour- or fve-word) introductory phrases, ‘ndeline the fst seven o eight word in each sentence. Look fr wo ehings + You have underlined abstract nouns a simple subjects, + You red at lest sk or seven words before you Beto 8 ew Acie 39 2, Analyze. Ifyou Bind such sentences do this 4. Decide who your main characters are, particularly Desh- ‘and blood characters (more about ths in the next lesson). ‘i. Look for the actions that thse characters perform, expe- ‘ally in nominalzaions, those abatiact nous desired from verbs. 3. Revise, 118 the actions are in nominaliations, change thera into verbs os Make the characters the subject of those verbs ‘© Rewrite the sontence with conjunetions ike bases, ‘when, elthough wh, how whether otha For example, lets diagnose and revise this sentence: “The outsourcing of high tech wrk to Aaa by conorasions eas the les abstr many Ameian worker. Diagnose: Undasin the ist seven or eight words: ‘The utscurag ot hghch wrk mn Asia by corporaons meas the Tass of pe for many Arpreen workers ‘Wie do not soe a character ar «subject ora verb expressing an im: portant seo. Analyze: Who are the charactors and what are ther actions? Characters American workers, corporations Actions ousourcing oss Revise: Tur the actons into verbs and make the characers hate sbjece Mary middleclass american werk ae losing tebe, besase “oration: ar ouscuring thigh tech wk oh ‘Some Common Patterns “You can quchly spot and revise three common peters of nomi salisation. 4. The nominalizatfon isthe subject of an empty verbs ‘The intention of he comaties to aa the reo |