How to read headlines

The language of headlines

• Headlines are difficult to understand even for English speakers.
• A lot of grammatical information is omited and sometimes you need
context or cultural information to understand them.
• Another difficulty foreign students may have is related to the
language used. They prefer short words rather than the long ones and
they also use attention catching words. So instead of saying A dog was
killed, they prefer the word butchered which is stronger in its
meaning.
• So in the following pages we are going to sum up some characteristics
of headlines
Omission of words
Grammatical words are usually omitted:
• articles,
• auxiliary verbs such as must, do, be,
• Pronouns
Example:
Conflicting reports about severity of condition

This headline transforms into:

“There are conflicting reports about the severity of the President´s condition” (a
picture of Donal Trump makes clear who they are talking about) (The Guardian,
3 October)
Verbal tenses
To express time, they only use some verbal forms:
Present simple (go) = present perfect (has gone)
Exple. Donald Trump releases video from hospital (he has released a video)
Infinitive = future:
Exple. Jim Carrey to play Joe Biden in S.N.L series (Jim Carrey will play the role
of Joe Biden in S.N.L. new TV series.
Past participle (went) = passive voice
Exple. Rarest fern (helecho) in Europe discovered in Ireland ( A rare fern has
been discovered)
Word Strings
• In headlines they tend to use noun strings (ristras de palabras). Noun
strings are combinations of nouns with no links in between which
must be read from right to left (we read from left to right).
• Exple.
Noun string: Hospital employee relations improvement program.
Correction: program to improve relations among employees.

Noun string: NASA continues to work on the International Space Station

astronaut living-quarters module development project.
Correction: NASA is still developing the module that will provide living quarters
for the astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
Literary devices and puns
• To call the reader´s attention, headlines make use of any imaginable
tool. That´s why you usually find poetic devices such as alliteration
(two words beginning with the same sound: Sad Susan); puns (juegos
de palabras) or cultural references.
• Poetic device: Big rig carrying fruit crashes in freeway (rhyme)
• Pun: FOOD FOR THOUGHT: BBC Christmas dinner guide sparks heated
debate when it recommends just ONE potato per guest
• Cultural reference: 'Emperor has no clothes': man who helped make
Trump myth says facade has fallen
How headlines are changing due to the
digitalisation of the media
Click on this link about how headlines are changing now as the
digitalisation of the media grows

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/nov/19/
mondaymediasection.sun
Some headlines as example.
Try to find some device used in these headlines:

City To Fine People Who Refuse To Wear Maks As Covid Rates Rise.
Netherlands Reports Record Daily Rise In Cases
Uk Imposes Sanctios On President Alexander Lukashenko
The Fight For Hong Kong/ Demoralised But Defiant, Spirit Of Resistance
Endures
Kosovo/Hague Court Begins Long-delayed Hearings On War Crime
Who Runs Hong Kong/ Party Faithful shipped in to carry out Beijing´s will.
Add the missing words in these headlines
• SIX ARRESTED IN HUNT FOR MISSING AMELIA
• Tow truck owner gunned down
• Two die in N3 collision
• Let there be light
• Trail of destruction as truck ploughs into mall parking lot