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The Rules of Plain English

Ken Ward's Writing Pages

Writing: Plain English

Page Contents

What is Plain English?

Plain English refers to writing (or speaking) that is clearly understandable by almost anyone. When we speak
about the techniques of writing Plain English, we are referring to some of the techniques known to make writing
clear and effective. These techniques are found in such studies as style, composition and rhetoric. The selected
techniques for Plain English are those which:

1. Are easily taught to writers and

2. Can greatly improve the writer's ability to write in a way that their intended readers can understand.

The techniques include:

Use words that most of your readers will easily understand.

Keep your sentences as short as your ideas permit, and not too long for your readers.
Use you when referring to your readers.
Be positive rather than negative.
Avoid the passive voice.

Plain English documents intended for the general reader have an average

sentence length of 15-20 words

word length of about 1.5 syllables

The average sentence length of published documents is about 15-25 words. This is an average, and the actual
lengths of sentences varies. In Plain English, sentences are usually shorter than 30 words. Such long sentences
are the exception.

Who can benefit from learning Plain English?

Plain English is intended for all writers whoever their readers are. Writers wishing to communicate with the general
reader need to produce material which largely consists of simple words and is written in relatively short sentences.
Writers wishing to communicate with professionals have to use complex vocabulary and sometimes complex
sentences to fit the needs of the subject. However, readers have long complained that the difficulty with
professional journals is not so much the subject matter - technical vocabulary - as the way it is presented - the
grammar, style and the use of unfamiliar or long non-technical words.

The Reader
Whether writing is clear and effective, or not, depends on the intended reader. For example, a report for post-
graduate quantum physicists is judged as clear and effective, if it is clear and effective in communicating its
message to post-graduate quantum physicists. However, if such a report were intended for the general reader, it
would probably be described as dense and obscure. Similarly, a message about a recent scientific discovery
would be written in different words and using different sentence forms when written for a professional journal than
it would be written for a newspaper. And a notice on a wall is clear and effective when it is written in a way that a
passer-by can take in its meaning at a glance.

In general, a message is clear and effective when it is written using words that are familiar to the intended reader
and uses sentences of a reasonable length, meaning that the intended reader is willing and able to understand
them. When expressing complicated ideas, the words may be long and the sentences long too, but they should not
be longer than the subject matter demands. Sentences covering two pages, are too long for any purpose. And too
many short sentences produce a choppy effect, and may make the ideas harder to understand.

When writing for particular readers, you need to note whether they will take the trouble to understand what you
have written - using study techniques and reference books, in which case they will probably be your students or
professional colleagues - or whether they will read your message once only and either understand it
or misunderstand it. In which case, they will take in some other message and wrongly attribute it to you. When you
can expect your readers - or, to be frank, require or compel them - to study what you have written, you can
use words they will not at first understand and you can use challenging sentence structures, but when you cannot
expect your readers to do more than read what you have written in one go, you need to use simpler writing .

Do not "if" and "but", unnecessarily: be simple and direct

The tendency of the writer to try to cover every case should be resisted. In order to write Plain English, you should
be simple and direct, giving enough information for your reader, and no more.
Consider this:

... Cells are 'cut' free and transported away to a second site. Here cell adhesion is increased and the cell is
'pasted' into its new location. The cell divides and with better adhesion stays put and a secondary cancer
develops. (This is a simple description but the principle is correct).
From: The British Society for Cell Biology,
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/kis/schools/life_sciences/biomed/bscb/softcell/ecm.html

In writing clearly about complex subjects for the general reader, the writer needs to be simple and direct. This
means giving sufficient information, but not too much. The writer of the above excellent example, adds a
rider, This is a simple description, but the principle is correct. The author also puts the words 'cut' and 'pasted' in
quotes to indicate, to more knowledgeable readers, that these words are used to simplify. [However, it is not
always necessary to use quotes and add riders.] Different words would have been used had the writer been
writing for a more technical audience. The above mentioned article is effective writing on technical matters for the
general reader because it uses simple words (rather than the exact technical words) and shorter sentences. It is
also simple and direct.

Example 1

When we seek to include many conditions and possibilities and exceptions in our writing, we start to if and but,
making our writing more difficult to understand. Sometimes, we do not need to mention everything, and it is better
to be simple and direct (even if this means we need to trust readers to use their common sense).
Almost always, any statement we make has exceptions. For instance, our advice might be:

Write short sentences!

Now, we do not mean you should make every sentence about 15 words all the time. So we might revise (and start
iffing and but-ing):

Write short sentences most of the time.

Now this isn't exactly what we mean, either. We have to write longer sentences for a technical audience than we
do for the general reader. So, for the sake of clarity and accuracy, we might try saying:

Write short sentences most of the time when writing for the general reader.
But this sentence may make some readers ask the question, "What about when writing technical material for
specialist readers? Does this rule apply?" So perhaps we had better write:

Write short sentences most of the time when writing for the general reader. When writing for more specialist
readers, keep you sentences as short as your ideas demand.

This may not be too bad (especially if we stop thinking of and adding other cases and exceptions), but the writing
has become much more complex. The expression, "as short as your ideas demand" is a bit vague. Joseph
Williams tells use we can sometimes write about complex ideas using simple sentences, but often, we can't. Often
complex ideas demand complex sentences. However, we want the general rule keep sentences as short as
possible to apply to all modern writing. We do not want to let technical writers off the hook: they need to avoid too
long sentences, and keep their sentences (relatively) short. Also they need to avoid writing their sentences too
short. So we try again:

Write short sentences most of the time when writing for the general reader. When writing for more specialist
readers, keep you sentences as short as your ideas demand. Do not make your sentences longer than they need
to be - or shorter!

We might realize that the advice given applies to text, and what has been said of specialist material applies just as
much to general material.
We can go on and on.
...
We may decide to write simply and directly:

Write short sentences!

And trust the reader uses his common sense. We can slip in further points of clarification earlier or later in the text.

The point is a writer must bite her lip, and resist the urge to be more precise and detailed than her readers
demand.

Word Choice
As writers, we should choose the most suitable word for our readers. Some suggestions can be given on how to do
this, but the suggestions are not rules. In the end, the writer is the judge. On this page, we suggest choosing short,
familiar words.
According to Ernest Gowers, quoting Fowler, we should prefer the:

1. Familiar word
2. Concrete word
3. Single word
4. Short word
5. Saxon word

These are in order of importance, so being familiar is most important, and being Saxon, the least important.
For instance, in place of caliginous, we might prefer foggy, because it meets the first four conditions, and it is, at
least, not Latin. On this page, I consider only familiar and short words.

Use Familiar Words

You communicate more effectively when you use words that are familiar to your readers. Familiar words are often
short words, but not always: for instance, impossible is a long word, but it is also a familiar one. Use familiar words
does not mean you should use only words found in the local newspaper, but says you should use only words
found in the material your readers commonly read. In some cases, this means you use words which are unknown
to the general reader, but familiar to your particular readers. For instance, you might use apiary when writing for
bee-keepers, but prefer bee-hive when writing for general readers.

When readers do not understand a word, they may guess its meaning. They may realise they are doing this or
they may be unaware they have guessed - often they relate the unknown word to a similar known word. If the word
is similar to a word they know, they will assume the unknown word means about the same as the word they do
know. For instance, they may think an exhaustive study was one that was tiring, because exhaustive is similar to
the familiar word exhausting. In this case, the reader's understanding may be similar to the writer's intended
meaning - if the study was exhausting, then the investigators must have worked hard on the study to get so tired,
so they probably left no stone unturned (they were exhaustive). The writer and the reader have struck lucky, even
though the reader has misunderstood the word.

However, the writer might not be so lucky. For instance, the word compliment is more familiar than the word
complement. If we read "She rose quickly in the company because she complements him in his work", some
readers might think that she is very flattering to him - compliments him - and might view the sentence negatively:
thinking he is vain and corruptible, promoting her above more able colleagues because she makes him feel
bigheaded and puffed-up like a frog, and she is a bootlicker and a creep because she seeks power through her
feminine wiles and not through her intelligence and ability; they may think this instead of correctly thinking her
strengths in business make up for his weaknesses, so together they make a powerful team. Even though further
statements might correct this misunderstanding, the harm has been done, and - at the least - the reader is
confused, and - in the worst case - the reader develops strong negative feelings. These negative feelings might be
hard to dispel, clouding further understanding. While making no error in grammar or diction the writer has failed to
get through to the readers and has led them to feel the opposite of what he intended. The morale is this: if readers
do not know the meaning of a word, they will guess it, perhaps wrongly, and if you need to avoid the dangers of
misunderstanding, you will choose your words carefully.

The work remains a nonpareil: direct, correct and delightful. - New Yorker

The delightful word nonpareil is not a familiar word to some readers. It means a person or thing with no equal. For
general readers, we prefer unequalled or peerless.

Examples

Example 1

We train our students to analyse technical reports with some sophistication.

The reader might wonder whether this means that students are taught to analyse in a sophisticated
manner, or to analyse sophisticated technical reports.
If we go for a simpler word than sophisticated, we might prefer to write either:
We train our students to correctly analyse technical reports.
Here we replace sophisticated with correctly.
Or
We train our students to analyse complex technical reports.
Here we prefer complex to sophisticated.
Our choice depending on our intended meaning. In either case, we prefer the more familiar word.

Example 2

Perspicuity in prose writing is enhanced through the felicitous choice of lexical units.

As felicitous means appropriate, and perspicuity means clarity, we might prefer:

The right choice of words improves clarity.

Example 3

For realists, the world is a set of definite facts, which obtain independently of humans.
Obtain has the meaning of exist or be. In this use, the word is not a familiar word although it is a short
word.
For realists, the world is a set of definite facts, which are independent of humans.

Example 4

Opinion leaders often play major roles in spurring the adoption of innovations

Although the word spurring is short and concrete - it makes us think of horse riding, which seems out of place here
- and although it is a familiar word, it seems a bit strong. Also spurring the adoption (of innovations) seems a little
odd. So the longer, Latin word, encouraging, seems more suitable. The noun and verb in the nominalization,
adoption, can be extracted and a doer people supplied to give us encouraging people to adopt. Finally, we might
write the phrase with familiar words new ideas and practices for innovations. This gives us:

Opinion leaders often play major roles in encouraging people to adopt new ideas and practices.

Example 5

The following example comes from a list:

Expediting design and development

Expedite is somewhat vague, meaning

do correctly,
speed up, or
send off.

Guessing the meaning intended is speed up, we have:

Speeding up design and development

Speeding up is a shorter and more familiar expression. It is also clearer than the original.

Familiar Word Equivalents

The list shows that sometimes a less familiar or longer word can be replaced with a shorter more familiar one. I
am not suggesting that the more familiar or shorter word is better or more appropriate in every (or any) context.
Nor am I suggesting that the given familiar word is the better of other familiar words in a given context. Also, the
example word may be used in other senses than those indicated by the familiar word or words given. Careful
writers should consult a good dictionary, or two, and a good book of synonyms (sometimes called a thesaurus).
[The above is an example of giving vent to iffing and butting!]

Example Familiar Word

abbreviate shorten

abduct kidnap
aberration oddity, oversight, straying

abject hopeless, worthless

abridge shorten

abrogate stop, do away with

abscond run off

abundant more than enough

accentuate stress

accommodating helpful

accost waylay

acumen cleverness

affable friendly

affluent rich

aggrandize increase

aggregate (n) group, mass, sum

aggregate (v) group

alacrity quickly and willingly

algid cold

alleviate to ease, lessen

altercation argument

amalgamation union, blob

ambivalent having mixed feelings

ameliorate to ease, to improve

amiable friendly

amorphous shapeless

anomaly freak, oddity, rarity

apparitional ghostly

arbitrator judge

assuage ease

audacious forward, rash

augment add

austere stern, grim, plain

baleful harmful

belligerent War-like
benevolent kind

berate tell off

bereft without

blandish coax, entice

bloated swollen

boisterous loud

brumal wintry

brusque blunt, gruff

burgeon bloom, grow

cacophony noise

cajole urge, coax

caliginous misty, dark

callous unfeeling

calumny slander, back-biting

camaraderie fellowship

capricious changeable

cavort frolic

circumspect wary

credulity gullibility

cursory hasty careless

daunting scary, off putting

dearth a lack

defunct dead, gone away

deleterious harmful

desolate barren, heartbroken

despondent downcast

destitute in poverty

differentiate contrast, tell apart

dilapidated run down

diligent Hard-working, painstaking

diminish reduce

diminutive miniature

discreet careful
discrete individual

disparage criticize

dissonance clash

divergent different, moving apart

diverse varied

divisive causing opposition, troublemaking

enervate weaken, tire

ethereal Airy-fairy, heavenly

euphoric overjoyed

exacerbate worsen

excursion trip

exemplary excellent, good

exigent necessary, urgent

exorbitant excessive

fabricate invent

facile easy

fallacious mistaken

fatuous silly

fecund fertile

formidable mighty, fearful

fortuitous lucky

hapless unlucky

hiatus break

hiemal wintry

hierarchy ruling body, pecking order

impecunious destitute

incisive direct

inextricable entangled

ingenious original

inimical hostile

iniquity wickedness

innocuous harmless

invective tongue-lashing
inveterate die-hard

irascible bad-tempered, touchy

inspissated thick

juxtapose place together

lachrymose tearful

loquacious talkative

malleable easily shaped

mandatory necessary, required

mendacious dishonest

munificent generous, open handed

mutability changeable

nefarious evil

noisome foul

obdurate unyielding

obfuscate obscure

obsequious creep, grovelling

ostracize banish

paragon model

pedagogue schoolteacher

pellucid clear

peregrinate wander

pertinacious dogged

petulance sulky, bad-tempered

portentous sinister, amazing

prestidigitation sleight of hand

presumptuous oversure, cheeky

propensity tendency

propriety decency

protean changing

pulchritude beauty

punctilious precise, fussy

putrid rotten

quotidian daily
 ratiocinate think

recalcitrant defiant

recapitulate repeat

redoubtable mighty, fearful

repudiate reject

restitution repayment

scurrilous foul, vulgar

seminal original

serendipity luck

strenuous demanding, energetic

supplant oust, unseat

surfeit glut

surreptitious secret, sly

surrogate stand in, stopgap, deputy

sycophant flatterer

taciturn reserved, aloof

tenuous weak

toothsome tasty

torpid lazy

torrid hot

tortuous winding

truculent violent

umbrage offence

usurp oust

variegate diversify

veracious honest

vicarious second-hand, acting, indirect

vicissitudes twists and turns

List of Confusing Words

Familiar words make writing clearer. Some words are more likely to cause confusion and misunderstanding, than
other words. The list below contains examples of words that might be confusing. Depending on the readers,
therefore, you might choose to avoid confusing words, preferring a less confusing word or phrase. The list
illustrates that some words can be confusing, and the writer should be aware of these possible confusions. The
point is that an unfamiliar word might be confused with a similar familiar word.

Confusing Words

Confusing Familiar Comment

allusion hint Some readers might confuse an allusion with a mental problem or with a false
perception.

complement supplement, This word might be confused with compliment.

round off

continuous without A siren wails continuously, without stopping, but a ticking sound occurs
stopping; continually, or again and again.
non stop

continual frequent,
again and
again

credible believable, If a story is credible, then we believe it. A person's behaviour is creditable when
likely it is worthy and good.

creditable praiseworthy,
good

discreet diplomatic, In physics, we might speak of discrete particles. If we tell a secret to someone,
wary we expect them to be discreet.

discrete separate,
individual

defuse defuse The word defuse is OK, but diffuse might be confused with defuse by some
readers.
diffuse spread
throughout,
scatter;
wordy

exceptionable nasty An exceptionable person is bad in some way; perhaps, hostile. An exceptional
person is not bad in any way; they are simply different.
exceptional out of the
ordinary

exhaustive complete Some readers believe that exhaustive means tiring, because they confuse it
with the more familiar exhausting.

grisly horrible, gory It is just that a grisly story might lead some readers to expect bears at some
stage.
grizzle grumble

grizzly grizzly bear

hoard a store of To avoid misunderstandings with these words, a synonym might be preferred.
something

horde mob

militate to affect Some British authorities believe that the use of militate as a substitute for
(against) mitigate is an American idiom: most American authorities believe the confusion
of these words is an error in both languages.
mitigate to lessen
(severity)
ordinance law There is a difference between law and cannons!

ordnance guns,
cannons, etc

paedophile child abuser While these words have quite different meaning, the reading-challenged tend to
confuse them, with serious results.
paediatrician children's
doctor

pedagogue teacher,
educator

perquisite perk, tip or Some years ago, a business student asked me what "management perquisites"
gratuity were. I was unsure, but we guessed they were "perks".

prerequisite requirement

prescribe prescribe The two words have almost opposite meanings. Prescribe is well-known;
proscribe is used less frequently.
proscribe forbid

shear cut the wool The pairs of words are homophones, words that sound the same, but are spelt
from sheep, differently, and have a different meaning. Confusion can occur in speech, and
very thin in writing when we are unsure of the spelling of these words.

sheer swerve

stationary not moving

stationery writing
materials,
etc

storey floor

story an account
of events

titillate to excite Confusing these words can have amusing results - for bystanders. For general
readers, titivate might be better replaced with smarten up.
titivate to smarten
up

tortuous twisting and A tortuous journey might also be pleasant, although a torturous journey is not.
turning

torturous agonizing

turbid clouding, Turbid writing is vague and unclear. Turgid writing is wordy and perhaps written
opaque more to impress than to communicate. Writing may be turgid but not turbid, and
(liquid) vice versa.

turgid pompous,
wordy

unsociable not enjoying If you work late, you work unsocial hours, but it doesn't mean you are
the company unsociable - you might dislike working these hours and prefer to socialize.
of others

unsocial interfering
with social
life
 venal corruptible, As the more familiar word is venereal, this might taint the meaning of the other
bribeable two, when the reader does not understand the words.

venial a non
damming sin

venereal related to
sex

Use Shorter Words

Shorter words are easier to read than longer ones. This is because it takes less time to move the eye over (and to
sub vocalize) shorter words. Therefore, when the reader is expected to read text without much effort, the writer
should prefer the shorter word to the longer one. Text containing many long words is dense and reading such text
is much harder than reading text that mainly contains shorter words. On the other hand, text that contains many
short words can be monotonous. When the writer needs to communicate a message quickly to readers (such as a
notice), the writer should use very short words. Even though writers of technical articles use longer words, they
would make their writing less dense by balancing their use of longer words with shorter ones.

How to Write Shorter Words

The writer can:

Use a dictionary, which might indicate a shorter expression.

Read the etymology of the word in a good dictionary, which might suggest a simpler word or expression.
Use a thesaurus to find a shorter word, which will probably be two word substitute.

List of Shorter Word Equivalents

In Plain English, long words are words with 3 or more syllables. Shorter words are easier to read than longer
ones. Where appropriate, you might prefer the shorter word to the longer one. Because a phrase containing
shorter words is more readable than a longer word - even though the phrase itself is longer - you might prefer the
phrase to the longer word.

Shorter Word Equivalents

Long Word Shorter Words

accordingly so

additional more, extra

adequate enough

alleviate lessen, reduce, ease

available at hand, handy, in stock

concerning about

consequently so

contribute lead to, give to, add to

endeavour try

entitlement right
 establish set up

exponential rapidly increasing

incidence rate, amount

necessitate call for

nevertheless even so, however

nonetheless even so, however

obtain get

purport claim

reduction cut

Shorter Sentences
When dense writing contains sentences which we consider too long, the easiest way to make sentences clearer
and more effective is to shorten them. Also, we might do this when trying to understand the writing of others, for
instance, when studying a textbook. When all else fails, we might convert long sentences into very short
sentences to clarify our thoughts, recombining them later in the light of our new understanding.

We can shorten sentences:

By removing redundancy from the sentence.

Avoiding the passive
Avoiding negatives
By splitting long sentences.

How to split Long Sentences

Sentences containing and, but, etc

Young students are taught to write longer sentences by joining shorter ones with words such as and, but and or.
We can shorten long sentences through the opposite process.
Sentences containing and, but, or or can often be shortened by ending the sentence before these words, and
beginning a new one after capitalising, for instance:
Jack went up the hill and Jill went up the hill. Jack went up the hill. And Jill went up the hill.

Sentences containing although, while, etc

Sentences containing subordinating conjunctions such as while or although can be split by dropping the
subordinating conjunction, turning the comma into a full stop and adding expressions like but, however and then to
the other sentence. For instance:
Although he did not like it, he ate the meal anyway. He did not like the meal. But he ate it anyway.
While mature students should not be encouraged to write like 12 year olds, they should know how to write
simple sentences when necessary Mature students should not be encouraged to write like 12 year-olds.
However, they should know how to write simple sentences when necessary.

He would not eat his food, because he did not like it. He would not eat his food. (For )He did not like it.
They could not give the patient water to drink, because she did not have a swallow reflex. They could not give the
patient water to drink. The reason for this was because she did not have a swallow reflex.

Before he went home, he visited his aunt. He went home. Before that, he visited his aunt.
He visited his aunt. Then he went home.
She carefully tested the mixture before she injected it into the patient. She carefully tested the mixture.
Then (After that) she injected it into the patient.

Sentences containing which or that.

Long sentences can sometimes be split where they contains words like which, that, who, what, etc.

Effective writing is concise, which means it does not contain unnecessary words; cohesive, which means
that one sentence flows from the previous one; and coherent, which means the sentences keep to the
topic.

Effective writing is concise. It does not contain unnecessary words. It is also cohesive. That is, one sentence flows
from the previous one. And it is coherent. The sentences keep to the topic.

Examples: Shortening Long Sentences

Example 1

While there are exceptions, a re-draught containing shorter words and shorter sentences is much more readable
and easy to understand than the original, especially for lay readers. (27 words)

A re-draught containing shorter words and shorter sentences is much more readable than the original. It is
also easier to understand, especially for lay readers. Of course, there are exceptions.

Example 2

Such redundant expressions and their attendant “To be” verb, can often be eliminated to good effect, simply by
omitting the expression, finding the real subject of the sentence, and using a real verb to make it a "doer".

Such redundant expressions and their attendant "To be" verb, can often be eliminated to good effect. First,
omit the expression. Then, find the real subject of the sentence, and finally, use a real verb to make it a "doer".

Alternatively, we can use a list:

Such redundant expressions and their attendant "To be" verb, can often be eliminated to good effect:

Omit the redundant expression,

Find the real subject of the sentence, and
Use a real verb to make it a "doer".

Example 3

What you need to do in conflict resolution is to bring the people who believe that the answer to their political
ambitions will be achieved through violence into a frame of mind that they accept that their political ambitions will
be delivered by politics. (44 words)

To resolve conflict, you need to bring those people who believe violence is the answer to their political
ambitions to believe they can achieve them better through politics. (29 words)
Or
What you need to do in conflict resolution is to bring the people who believe that the answer to their political
ambitions will be achieved through violence into a different frame of mind. A frame of mind in which they accept
that their political ambitions will be delivered by politics.

Or
What you need to do in conflict resolution is to affect a certain group of people. That is, those people who believe
that the answer to their political ambitions will be achieved through violence. They need to be brought into a frame
of mind that they accept that their political ambitions will be delivered by politics.

Cut Unnecessary Words

The more words we need to read to understand a sentence, the harder it is to grasp its meaning. This is especially
true when the extra words supply no extra meaning.
You can reduce redundancy (long-windedness) in your writing by:

1. Replace a phrase with a word meaning the same thing

2. Delete words that have little or no meaning, and words that are implied by other words in the sentence
3. Change negative to positives.

The following example has many unnecessary words and round-about expressions:
In the eventuality that a threat of danger occurs during the period of time the operator is on duty, the operator
should press the alarm button with the purpose of alerting other people with the intention of causing them to exit
away from the building. (43 words)

In the eventuality that =if

a threat implies danger
during the period of time=when
with the purpose of = to
with the intention of causing =to cause
to exit away from = to exit

This gives us
If a threat occurs when the operator is on duty, the operator should press the alarm button to alert other people to
cause them to exit the building.
However, we might replace everything after alarm button by and exit the building. The notice is directed to
the operator. Notices to others might say, "If you hear the alarm, exit the building fast." This gives us:
If a threat occurs when the operator is on duty, the operator should press the alarm button and leave the building.
(21 words)
Even better, by being simple and direct:
If a threat occurs, press the alarm button and exit the building! (8 words).

Replace a phrase with a word, or words, meaning the same thing

The following table gives examples of wordy ways of saying what we could have said just as clearly in fewer
words.

Wordy Expressions

Wordy Better
 as a consequence of because, for

commensurate with consistent with

despite the fact that although, despite

for the purpose of to

if this is not the case if not

if this is the case if so

in accordance with following

in conjunction with with

in order to to

in the eventuality of if

in the light of according to

in view of the fact that because

on the assumption that if

on the subject of about, concerning

prior to before

to the degree that

relating to about

under any other circumstances than unless, except

with reference to about, concerning

Delete Words having Little or No Meaning

Some wordy expressions can simply be deleted.

Wordy Expressions

Wordy
Expression Example Improved

etc She took such items as water, food, clothing, She took such items as water, food and
etc. clothing. (such items as implies we
are mentioning some items, so etc is
redundant).

the amount of The amount of disagreement between the two The two groups disagree excessively.
groups is excessive.

the case of In the case of Jack, we are undecided. We are undecided about Jack
 the They are studying the characteristics of the They are studying the problem.
characteristics problem.
of

the definition The definition of mind is that which is non- Mind is that which is non-physical.
of physical.

the issue of Dealing with the issue of corruption of proving Dealing with corruption is proving
problematical. problematical.

the level of The level of pollution in the county is very high. Pollution is the county is very high.

the nature of The nature of the misuse of our products The misuse of our products makes us
makes us concerned. concerned.

the The occurrence of high levels of radiation in High levels of radiation in the food results
occurrence of the food results from carelessness at the plant. from carelessness at the plant.
Carelessness in the plant results in
radioactive food.

the system of The system of doctrine is heresy. The doctrine is heresy.

Students may notice in the course of Students may notice in the course of
discussion that the judicial branch discussion that the judicial branch
appears the least affected by the system of appears the least affected by checks
checks and balances. and balances.

the use of New regulations governing the use of child car New regulations governing child car seats
seats came into force on 18 September 2006. came into force on 18 September 2006.

Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives and adverbs can often be omitted without affecting the sentence. When the provide little information,
they can be deleted without affecting the meaning.

He ran fast down the hill.

Usually we run fast, rather than slowly, so fast can be omitted.

Make Your Subjects Doers

Refer to the Reader as You

Writing becomes easier when you refer to the reader as you. When you do this, you are less likely to use
nominalizations, passives and round-about expressions. Your writing will be more coherent, because you use you
as the subject of your sentences. Similarly, refer to yourself the writer, or your organisation, as I or we. This
technique of using pronouns can be a very simple and effective way of making your writing clearer and more
cohesive.

Make Your Subjects Doers

Grammar teachers often teach children that the subject of a sentence is "the doer of the action". This is true for
effective sentences, but not for ineffective ones. When the subject of a sentence isn't "the doer", we should
change the sentence so the subject is "the doer". A simple way to do this is to use "you" and "we" as the "doers" in
the sentence.
Customer satisfaction depends on employee courtesy.

Noting that satisfaction is a nominalization, we can identify the real verb as satisfy. We can ask, "Who
satisfies whom?" A possible answer is, "We satisfy our customers with our service." We do it by "being courteous
to them." This gives us:
We satisfy our customers better if we are courteous to them.

In the next example:

The implication of the report was that the accident was caused by staff negligence.
The subject, The implication of the report, is not a real doer. The real doers are the writers of the report.
That is, they, or the authors. What the authors did was imply the staff caused the accident because they
were negligent. So:
The authors of the report implied the staff caused the accident because they were negligent.
I used the authors instead of they to avoid confusion with the they in they were negligent. We could have
written:
The report implied the staff cause the accident because they were negligent.
While the report isn't a person who can imply things, it is generally understood to mean the author of the
report implied it, or we inferred it from the report. It is however quite clear.

Make Your Verbs Express The Action

Writing is clearer when the verb is clear and expresses the action (or state) of the subject. These are sometimes
called strong verbs. For instance:
Jack performed the action of running up the hill.
The verb is performed. It is vague. Jack might have:

performed a play
performed a lobotomy
performed magic trick

Also, performed tells us only vaguely what Jack did. Only when we get to the word running do we know what he
actually did. What he did was run. But the verb is concealed in the word, running. If we make the verb express
clearly the action, we write:
Jack ran up the hill.

When a verb is turned into a noun, its verb qualities are hidden, making the new word more difficult to read
and more vague.

Beware of the Verb to be

The verb to be is frequently found with errors in Plain English. There is nothing wrong with the correct use of the
verb, but it is wise to check that it is the real verb in a sentence. See nominalizations and passives.
Light Verbs

Light verbs include: do, give, have, make, perform and take. The can often appear in expression of the form:

(Light Verb) (Determiner) (Noun)

For instance:

I am going to have a sleep.

Clearly, this is wordy, and we can write:

I am going to sleep.

Using Light Verb Without Light Verb

They performed a test of it. They tested it.

I had a sleep. I slept.

She had an extraordinary experience She experienced something extraordinary.

She took the opportunity to escape She escaped.

We shall take the risk of travelling by sea We risked travelling by sea.

They did a thing that surprised us They surprised us.

He did an essay which was brilliant. He wrote a brilliant essay.

He made an attempt to correct the problem. He attempted to correct the problem.

He gave a speech to the group. He spoke to the group.

It gave a hoot. It hooted.

It gave us a shock. It shocked us.

It gave a lurch. It lurched.

Verbal Nominalizations

By changing a word or group of words into a noun, you make a nominalization. A nominalization is a word or group
of words which is changed into a noun, sometimes by adding a suffix. Nominalizations are often derived from
verbs, but they can be derived from other parts of speech, such as adjectives. In nominalizations, weak verbs take
the place of the real verb, clouding the meaning of the sentence.

Verbal nominalizations are nouns derived from verbs. You can nominalize the verb imply by turning it into the
noun implication. If you turn The new report implied that he was corrupt, which angered him into a
nominalization, The implication angered him, you lose the subject, the new report, and the object, that he was
corrupt. When you do this, you hide the subject and the object of the verb, making your writing denser and vaguer.
Your readers no longer know what the implication was, nor who made it. You can make your writing clearer by
limiting the number of nominalizations of verbs.

Example 1

Consider:
The importation of timber from endangered forests is a crime.

The word importation is called a nominalization because it is a noun which comes from a verb: the verb is
import. Sentences are often clearer when they are rewritten using an active verb, instead of the nominalization.
They are even better when you give the verb a concrete subject. For instance, ask who, or what, is importing this
wood, and the answer gives us a concrete person. For instance:
Companies that import timber from endangered forests without a licence commit a crime.

1. Identify the nominalization. In this case, it is importation.

2. Find the verb. Here it is import.
3. Now verbs have subjects, the doer of the verb's action. We can identify the subject by asking, "Who or what
is importing?" Sometimes, we need to guess the answer. In the above example, we guess companies. That
is "companies import something".
4. Find the object by asking, "Who or what is being imported?" In this case it is timber that is being imported.
5. Re-write the sentence using simple sentences. This can be done in note form, and does not have to be
correct English. Here we have

"Companies import timber. The timber is from endangered forests. They do it without a licence. They commit a
crime."

6. We can give thought to how the sentences are related. The second one describes the timber in the first
sentence, "timber from endangered forests", and the third sentence tells us about the condition of importing
(if). And the last says what the consequences are, that is, "they commit a crime".
7. Combine these simple sentences into ones of reasonable length. For instance,

"Companies who import timber from endangered forests without a licence commit a crime."

At point 5, where we have the simple sentences, we have the option of putting them in a different order. We
might chose:
It is a crime for companies to import timber from endangered forests without a licence.
Which is even more readable, because it gets to the point straight away.

Example 2

The formalization of the process has alienated the members.

1. The nominalization is formalization.

2. The verbs is formalize.
3. We do not know who did the formalizing, but guess we (the company) did. "We formalized something".
4. "the process" is what is formalized. "We formalized the process." We now have a real verb!
5. Using simple sentences, we have "We formalized the process. Something has alienated the members."
6. The sentences are related by cause and effect, implying because.
7. We can combine the sentences to get:

Because we formalized the process, we have alienated our members.

Example 3
Consider this sentence:
Avoidance of writing excessively long sentences in the absence of readership considerations, excepting an
infrequent occurrence, is recommended.

Avoidance, absence, considerations and occurrence are nominalizations from the verbs avoid, absent (done
without), consider, and occur. The subject of avoid is presumably, you the writer. And what is avoided is
excessively long sentences. So, we can write "Avoidance of writing excessively long sentences" as "you should
avoid writing excessively long sentences".

The subject of the next verb, absent or not done, is "readership considerations", which is also a nominalization
based on the verb consider. So we need to deal with this first.

The subject of consider is, again, you the writer. And what you are considering is your reader. So putting together
the analysis of the last two nominalizations, we get "without considering your readers". So far, we have,

"You should not write excessively long sentences without considering your readers."

The next nominalization, the word occurrence, means "something happening at a certain time", or "when
something happens". This something is "the writing of excessively long sentences". If we ask, "Who is writing?",
we find the subject is you, so we have: "when you write excessively long sentences". And because this is
infrequent, we have "excepting when you write excessively long sentences infrequently."

Since we have already referred to long sentences, we can write, "excepting when you write such sentences
infrequently."

Putting all this together:

You should avoid writing excessively long sentences without considering your readers, excepting when you write
such sentences infrequently.

We can tidy up this sentence. We can drop excessively, because this is implied by "long sentences", and
also drop the first use of writing, because this is implied. We can also write unless for "excepting when". So we
get:
You should avoid long sentences without considering your readers, unless you write such sentences infrequently.

While the sentence is clearer, because it no longer has nominalizations and we have created real subjects
(you), it is, however, extremely negative. See the further work we need to do in the example below.

Examples

Verbal Nominalizations based on the verb to be

This is dependent on status.

This depends on status.

An abstract idea is produced by the exclusion of details.

By excluding details, you produce an abstract idea.

Success is the result of hard work.

Success results from hard work.

There is significant opposition among the voters.

The voters oppose it strongly.

There was a high incidence of recurrence.

It recurred frequently.

Verbal Nominalizations based on weak verbs

We can drop the weak verb (shown in italics) in the following sentences and rescue the true verb from its
nominalization (shown in bold).
Scientists performed a test of the substance.
Scientists tested the substance.

We are concerned about the incidence of vandalism in the area.

We are concerned about vandalism in the area.

We are instigating inquiries into the matter.

We are inquiring into the matter.

They made a selection of the important books.

They selected the important books.

Prefer the Active to the Passive

In an easy English sentence, the subject of the sentence is the person or thing that performs the action. We
call this type of sentence active, or in the active voice. We say the opposite type of sentence is passive, or
in the passive voice. In a passive sentence, the subject is not the doer. If the doer is mentioned at all, then it
is often buried in a phrase beginning with by. We use active sentences rather than passives because
passives are more wordy and vague than actives. According to the Plain English rules, no more than
half our sentences should be in the passive voice, and, in general writing, we should use far fewer.

Consider the following table, which gives examples of active and passive sentences.

Active Passive

The dog bit the man. The man was bitten by the dog.

The scientists disputed the inferences. The inferences were disputed by the scientists.

He is stroking the dog. The dog is being stroked by him.

I will eat the crisps. The crisps will be eaten by me.

He has been to France. France is where he has been.

The boss fired Henry. Henry got fired.

He had had a good time. A good time had been had by him.

In the table above, the subjects of the passive sentences are not the doers. We make the active passive by
turning the active sentence around, so the by clause hides the doer (We often omit the doer in passive
sentences). In the above table, almost all the passive sentences contain forms of the verb to be: was, were, being,
be and been. One form of the passive uses got. In all cases, the sentences contain words like bitten, disputed,
stroked, eaten, been, fired. These are called past participles.

Identifying the Past Participle.

Most English past participles end in -ed, but some small words such as eat, be, have, etc, have different endings.
If in doubt, identify the past participle in the following manner:

1. Compose a sentence using They are plus the verb part ending in -ing (called the present participle). For
instance, for run, compose the sentence: They are running (a race).
 2. Now write the corresponding sentence for They have plus the verb part: They have run (a race).
3. Run is the past participle. An expression using a form of the verb to be plus run is passive. For instance: It
was run in record time, is passive, because it contains the verb to be and a past participle.

Making the Passive Active

We want to make our shops better for everyone so our customers can have a good experience, and profits will be
made in more of our outlets.
In profits will be made in more of our outlets, we note the presence of the verb to be and the word made,
which is a past participle. The clause is therefore passive. We can make it active by finding the real doer in
the sentence, we (the company) and making it the subject of the verb: we will make profits in more of our outlets.
The new sentence is:
We want to make our shops better for everyone so our customers can have a good experience, and we will make
profits in more of our outlets.

The following is passive:

This type of sentence is called active, or the sentence is said to be in the active voice.

This type of sentence is active, or in the active voice.

Prefer the Positive to the Negative

This guideline does not mean we should always use positive words. It does, however, mean that we should think
carefully before using negative words.

Note: Sometimes you have to guess what a writer means when they have used some negative sentences.

The following sentence is hard to understand at first reading because it has two negative ideas:

... said he would table an amendment opposing other controversial proposals in the Bill, including plans to scrap
the requirement for a legal father to be named by women seeking fertility treatment. Telegraph
'He would oppose the scrapping'..., which means, he supports keeping the requirement.
... said he would table an amendment opposing other controversial proposals in the Bill. However, he
supports the requirement for a legal father to be named by women seeking fertility treatment, and opposes others
who plan to scrap it.

Positive Statements are Easier to Understand than Negative Ones

You can understand positive statements more easily than negative ones because they tell you what to do or think,
instead of telling you what not to do or think. They leave what to do a mystery, and makes the sentence vague.
Negated expressions are words with a negative prefix. For instance, unclear, unhappy and inadvisable. Or they
are clauses with a negative word, such as no or not. Even words in positive form can express a negative idea. For
instance, hardly means not often, so its meaning is negative. Positive expressions and ideas are much easier to
read because you need to make fewer steps to understand. To read a negated expression, you must take two
steps.

1. First you need to understand the positive.

2. Then, mentally, you must negate it to produce the negative.

Having to take an extra mental step, you are more likely to misunderstand. Even if this causes you only a
moments hesitation, the flow of reading is broken.

Two Meanings of Not

The negative of some words means the opposite. For instance:
This isn't correct. This is wrong.
But the negative of most words can mean anything except the stated exception:

She was not happy.

She could be anything except happy. She could be angry, sad, content, numb, etc. Only the writer or the context
can tell us what he really meant.

Negative Words with Definite Meanings

Words like never and nothing appear to be negative, but they have a definite meaning and are not vague. For
instance:
We never go there.
This clearly means we go there zero times.

The police said there was nothing there.

She said "I have nothing to wear."

In the first sentence above, the police found nothing of interest to them, although there were no doubt normal
things there (it wasn't a vacuum!) In the second sentence, she probably has many things to wear, but nothing she
wants to wear. While nothing literally means zero things, its meaning is often clear enough in other uses, as
above.

Negative prefixes sometimes mean "the opposite of", when they have a definite meaning. For instance, unhappy
means the opposite of happy, and the positive form is sad. The word unhappy has a definite meaning. However,
non-logical does not clearly mean illogical. It might refer to another kind of logic. The point is that negatives can be
vague and confusing, which makes them candidates for revision.

Negative Expressions are Often Vague

Negative expressions are often vague. For instance:

No win, no fee.

This advertisement by lawyers seems to mean if you lose the case, you won't have to pay anything. Readers
might also think that if they win the case, they will get a big award. But sometimes the legal fees are more than the
award, and the clients ends up having to pay a huge legal bill. No doubt this is mentioned somewhere in the small
print. Perhaps it should say "No win, no fee. Win, big bill."

How to make Negatives into Positives

The following examples contain the word not, which can sometimes be eliminated. For instance, we can eliminate
not from not possible, by writing the opposite of possible, impossible.

Expression using Not Better Expression using Not Better

not possible impossible not finished ongoing

not happy sad not the same different

not stop continue not include omit

not notice overlook not agree refuse

Negative words, such as impossible, are often clearer than not plus a positive word, such as not possible.

Avoid Using Two (or more) Negatives in the Same Sentence.

Where there are two negatives in a sentence you should be wary. For instance, if there is a word such as not and
a word in negative form, such as impossible, in the same sentence, you should consider revising. In doing so, you
need to remember that in English and mathematics, two negatives usually make a positive, and this positive
should be used. For example:
She was not an infrequent visitor.
This is vague. We should write:
She never visited.
Or
She frequently visited.
Only the writer knows what she intended. And any frequency of visiting, except infrequent might logically fit
the meaning - sometimes, occasionally, almost always.

Occasionally, non-Standard English double negatives make a negative (as they often do in some other
languages):

I ain't never coming again! (slang)

This means I will never come again. And that is what we should write. In Standard English, two negatives always
make a positive. Yet the meaning is perfectly clear. Also:
I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't rain.
In spite of the double negative, it means the speaker thinks it is going to rain. The expression should
probably be considered idiomatic.

Negate the Negative to Make a Positive.

In the table below, we often do not know the meaning of the negative because it is vague, and have to guess. As
writers, we do, of course, know what we mean and so we can sometimes eliminate not from the sentence. We can
sometimes do this when there is a word like not in the sentence. The table below gives examples:

Negate the Negative to make a Positive

Expression using Not Better Expression using Not Better

not impossible possible not artless skilled (artful)

not unhappy happy not undecided decided

not unlikely likely not disagree agree

not overlook notice not unknown known

Example 1

It is not easy to understand unclear writing.

The words not... unclear mean clear, so we have:

It is easy to understand clear writing.

Example 2

In this example, the idea of not is present, but not is absent in the original.
The degree of misunderstanding in your writing is increased by your use of non-simple words.

We can write this as, introducing some nots:

The degree of not understanding in your writing is increased by your use of not simple words.

Removing the nots we get:

The degree of understanding in your writing is increased by your use of simple words.
And by re-writing:

dropping "The degree" as meaningless,

changing understanding into "readers understand" (use the real verb),
changing "is increased" to better.

Readers understand your writing better when you use simple words.

Example 3

This example comes from nominalizations. The sentence has been cleaned up, but it is still hard to understand
because of the negative expressions.
You should avoid long sentences without considering your readers, unless you write such sentences infrequently.

If you avoid long sentences, then you write shorter sentences.

without considering your readers becomes consider your readers
unless you write such sentences infrequently , can be written in positive form as: you can write the
occasional long sentence.

Putting this together, we have:

Consider your readers and write shorter sentences. However, you can write the occasional long sentence.

Complex Negative Expressions

The following sentences baffle almost all readers. This kind of sentence is more likely to occur in more
professional writing. They are the kind of sentences that readers of professional articles would object to because
the difficulty in reading the articles is due to the language used rather than to the intrinsic difficulty of the subject.

Example 1

The following sentence seems very difficult, at least to me:

Lawyer: Is it not true that you omitted to avoid contact with the prisoner? Answer Yes or No!

Perhaps it is better to face the prison bars, the wrack, and the noose, rather than to figure out such sentences!
However, for the sake of our readers, we try to make it clearer.
Is it not true is it false (not true=false)
that you omitted to avoid contact with the prisoner that you contacted the prisoner (omitted to avoid
contact=contacted)
So, Is it true that you didn't contact the prisoner? Did you avoid contacting the prisoner? (not
contact=avoid)
This is probably easy (or at least easier) to answer with a Yes or a No, but, we can simplify the obviously
negative word, avoid:
Did you avoid contacting the prisoner? Did you keep away from the prisoner? (avoid=keep away from,
approximately)
So if you had nothing to do with the prisoner, you would answer Yes. This is the opposite of what we might
feel should be our response (and this is what the lawyer intended: to confuse us to give the wrong answer).

Example 2

Prefer Regular English Words to Jargon

Jargon is a special vocabulary used within a group to improve communication. Plumbers, doctors, lawyers, and
others, use special words which help them in their activities. The words might be unfamiliar to outsiders, or familiar
words with a different meaning. When a jargon word fills a gap in the language, it becomes a part of the language.

When jargon is used outside the group, they indicate:

The writer is ignorant, and does not know the words are jargon,
The writer falsely believes she will impress others,
The writer wishes to deceive others by using familiar words in an unfamiliar sense.

In addition, some writers will use jargon to try to impress their readers. This use of jargon is often vague and
confusing.

Sample Jargon Expressions

Expression Meaning Example Comment

feedback comments Please send feedback. The word

feedback comes
from electronics
where positive
feedback results
in overload, and
negative feedback
controls and
stabilizes the
system.

In the example, it
means comments.

input comments, contribute The group is invited to give In the example,

their input. the word input
means comments.

adequate enough We have adequate supplies. In these

examples, a big
entitlement right It is your entitlement to work jargon word is
safely. used instead of a
shorter familiar
funded paid for The project is funded by the word.
government.
geared suited to, aimed at The plan is geared to students. In the example,
geared to is
unclear, it could
have either of the
two different
meanings:

The plan is
aimed at
students.
The plan is
suitable for
students.

interface interact, work with, meet We need to interface with interface is a

security. pompous way of
saying work with,
or meet.

networking building relationships with I found a job through networking, from

groups of people, building networking. computing, is an
contacts impressive way of
referring to
contacts.

meltdown In urban areas, family life is in Because its main

melting of control rods in meltdown. use is very
a nuclear reactor, with dramatic, it is
serious consequences; used to dramatize
collapse, coming to an many other
end; situations and
states. However it
extremely angry; is usually vague.
serious failure of mental To avoid
abilities; vagueness, the
writer needs to
clarify its meaning
in the context.

operational working The system is now operational. Again, a big

jargon word for a
simpler, clearer
Anglo-Saxon one.

on the back of because of, after Temperatures are rising on the The expression is
back of increased CO2 vague, so we do
emissions. not know if the
one causes the
other; both have a
common cause; or
they are just
correlated.
 significant big, probably caused by The new drug is significantly In the examples,
something other than chance. better than the previous one. both these words
with a familiar
addictive causes physical withdrawal Smoking is not addictive. meaning are used
symptoms, habit forming, in their scientific
causes a compulsive need. sense, misleading
the reader. If one
drug is
significantly better,
we would expect it
to cure a lot more
people, but used
in its scientific
sense,
significantly better
could mean only a
small number
might benefit.
And, in the
smoking example,
it seems obvious
that smoking is
addictive. Drug
companies have
sometimes
described drugs
as non-addictive
even when such
drugs are habit
forming, or cause
a compulsive
need.

terrorism, money- Sensational

laundering, etc. words, out of
context, are used
to persuade
people to accept
or to justify
behaviour by
governments and
organizations,
behaviour which is
not motivated by
effective policing,
but an obsession
with control.

Prefer English Words and Expressions to Foreign Ones

You should avoid foreign words and expressions, except when you are sure your reader will understand what they
mean. Some expressions, such as sic and ad hoc are extremely useful - acceptable alternatives are difficult to find.

The following alternatives are suggestions.

Foreign
Expression Meaning Example Comment
ad hoc for this purpose or occasion only, and We were able to find only ad hoc seems
without considering wider implications; an ad hoc solution to the to fill a gap in
improvised problem. English when
it means
something like
special. For
general
readers, an
English
expression
should be
used. For
instance:
We managed
the problem,
but we could
not find a
general
solution.
We handled
each problem
on its merits,
but failed to
find a general
solution.

bona fide genuine We are seeking bona fide Use genuine.

applicants.

carte blanche a free hand He's been given carte Use a free
blanche in this hand, or full
investigation. authority.

c (circa) about I went there circa 1985 Use about.

eg (exempli gratia) for example He likes to eat vegetables, A list of

eg peas and carrots. examples
beginning with
eg, does not
end in etc! [eg
is written e.g.
in the USA]

en bloc all together or at the same time The crowd surged en bloc Use in a
out the cinema. mass.

et al and others After speaking to Bill, et al, Use and

he knew what he should others. With
do. people, etc is
incorrect,
because it
means and
other things.
etc and so on, and the rest He filled his backpack with Do not use etc
food, water, clothes, etc. after
expressions
like for
example or
including,
because
these
expressions
imply only a
sample of the
items are
mentioned, so
adding etc is
redundant.
Also, do not
say Mr Jones,
etc, came to
see us,
because etc
refers to
things, not
people.

ie that is The committee, ie the Used when

Ethics Committee, is set to specifying one
meet later today. thing or giving
one example.
Written i.e. in
the USA.

inter alia among other things We want to find out, inter Use among
alia, why the flours had other things.
died.

modus operandi way of working His modus operandi was to His method
work all night and sleep all was to work
day. all night and
sleep all day.

per for each The UN distributed two The UN

pounds of flour per distributed two
refugee. pounds of
flour to each
refugee.

per capita per person Incomes rose 20% per Incomes rose
capita during the period. 20% per
person during
the period.
Incomes rose
20% for the
average
person during
the period.

per se intrinsically, as such To err is to be human per To err is what

se. it means to be
human.
pp (per pro) done with the permission and authority of pp Roger Snout, Managing Its use is
another Director normal
business
practice when
signing a
letter on
behalf of
another.
However, the
receiver of the
letter might
think the writer
can't be
bothered to
sign their
name and
thinks the
receiver is
unimportant.
Writers should
sign their own
letters.

proxy substitute

QED proved as required As everyone is mortal and Even in

Betty is a person, she will mathematics,
die, QED. QED is
considered to
be arrogant
and should be
avoided.
In print, the
black square,
■, is preferred.
Often it can be
omitted.

sic as written by the original author (usually an ... he will be confronted by sic is a very
error in spelling or grammar) computer [sic] display that useful word,
will advise him in plain but it might
english [sic] ... not be
understood by
the general
reader.
... he will be
confronted by
computer
[???] display
that will advise
him in plain
english [???]
...
Perhaps the
writer should
use sic, and
define it.
There aren't
any good
alternatives.
 sine die indefinitely People receive this Use
pension sine die. indefinitely.

vis a vis face to face; regarding; opposite We wish to compare the Use the
health of the English vis a appropriate
vis what they eat. English
expression.
vis a vis is
often vague.

viz namely, used to give a specific description Use namely,

or explanation of something previously or omit it.
mentioned in general

These are mentioned for reference. They are widely used in reference books.

Words and Expressions Used in Text

Foreign Expression Meaning

cf (confer) compare

ibid same source

loc cit cited above

op cit work quoted

qv (quod vide) see elsewhere in this text

vide see elsewhere in the text.

vs (vide supra) see above, mentioned previously

Use Lists and Headings

The following help readers understand:

Lists, particularly bulleted lists

Headings and Subheadings
Hyperlinks in Web Pages
Tables, Diagrams and Icons

Ken Ward's Writing Pages

Copyright � 2008
Ken J Ward