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How to Write in Plain English

plainenglish.co.uk

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Re: How to Write in Plain English

#281

Post by nicbou »

aclimatt wrote: post #214
nicbou wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a place and a time for culture. Your electric bill is not one of them. I disagree with your last paragraph. Speaking clearly and decisively is a good thing, and people will usually appreciate it. People become famous for speaking clearly. I remember some general made the rounds for his plain, no-nonsense COVID-19 address. I wish I could find it again. I can only think of this scene right now. https://youtu.b…

I'd say that actually is my point though. If you're a high-ranking official giving a speech, speaking the same language as the general population will make you well-received and well-understood by using the language of your constituents. Speaking a language people understand is decisively a good thing, and what people understand varies dramatically by situation. "Plain English" isn't always the answer. (Also hierarch…

In the end, you have to adapt your speech to your audience. If you address the members of a club, you can speak their language. When the club is 300+ million strong, you might have to pick a broader tone.

Re: How to Write in Plain English

#282

Post by mcguire »

"Apologising: If you are replying to a tricky letter or a complaint, or are dealing with a difficult problem, put yourself in the reader's shoes. Be professional, not emotional. You may have to give a firm, unwelcome answer, but be as helpful and polite as possible. If you are going to apologise, do so early. If the problem is your fault, say so. Apologise completely and concisely, sympathetically and sincerely. And whether it is your fault or not, try to emphasise what you can do for the other person."

Wow. Worth the price of entry right there.

Re: How to Write in Plain English

#283

Post by dhimes »

strogonoff wrote: post #167
BurningFrog wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A useful FAQ list must consist of questions that are actually often asked. They represent discovered problems in the text the author didn't foresee.

> They represent discovered problems in the text the author didn't foresee. Indeed. If certain questions are asked frequently, likely the information is not presented with audience’s actual needs in mind. Content should be updated, possibly rewritten. Putting up a FAQ shows content editor washing their hands of that responsibility. I also find it a little rude, like “Welcome to the group of people who, despite our be…

I think FAQs are an excellent way to present information— even information that has been previously covered— in a different way. Not everybody absorbs the same way, and not all information is presented clearly.

Re: How to Write in Plain English

#284

Post by ggggtez »

nicbou wrote: post #38
gorgoiler wrote: post #2

Writing clearly is like playing Tetris. Sentences should be presented with clauses that drop down and slot together efficiently. At the earliest available opportunity you drop in a block that completes the line and points are won/made. This can also make for rather dull writing and I appreciate the irony in this paragraph: > However, at first you may still find yourself writing the odd long sentence, especially when…

Don't make your readers hold parts of the sentence in their head. Reorder or split sentences until it can be avoided. In other words, use a really small buffer. "You must fill form 331 unless you are over 60 years old, in which case you must fill form 445." "You must fill form 331. If you are over 60 years old, you must fill 445 instead." "If you are over 60 years old, you must fill form 445. Otherwise, you must fill…

The last one is only good if you actually read it. I might end up seeing the first clause, assuming the entire line is irrelevant, and moving on without seeing the "Otherwise".

Prefer declarative statements:

"If you are 60 or older, you must fill form 445.

If you are 59 or younger, you must fill form 331."

Re: How to Write in Plain English

#285

Post by retzkek »

pidg wrote: post #279
karaterobot wrote: post #265

I don't write in E-Prime, but I think it raises a valid point: you can often clarify and strengthen your English sentences by avoiding the verb "to be". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Prime

Given someone called John who is a racist, can you find a way to say "John is a racist" in E-Prime without making John seem less racist?

"John judges others by the color of their skin" maybe? It actually feels an even stronger indictment to me, as it calls out just what is meant by "racist" and how absurd it is.

Re: How to Write in Plain English

#286

Post by charwalker »

karaterobot wrote: post #265

I don't write in E-Prime, but I think it raises a valid point: you can often clarify and strengthen your English sentences by avoiding the verb "to be". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Prime

Ignoring passive voice is often a priority for some forms of writing.

Re: How to Write in Plain English

#287

Post by StavrosK »

notahacker wrote: post #156
dgellow wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don't make your readers hold parts of the sentence in their head. Funny to read this as I'm learning German! In German the main verb of a sentence has to be at the end depending on the context (e.g: if it is a question, or following some prepositions such as "dass"). Let's say we want to build a question, it will be constructed this way: 1. question marker (such as "Was", "Wo", "Warum", etc) 2. subject 3. other det…

A famously playful version of this is the first sentence of Kafka's Metamophorphosis. The reader has the concept of Gregor Samsa waking in his bed from uneasy dreams and then a monstrous vermin in their heads, and the verb they're definitely not expecting to link this subject and object is 'transformed into'... It's a pain for the translator to pull off the same effect in most other languages.

> Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer verwandelt.

"As Gregor Samsa one morning from restless dreams awoke, found he himself in his bed into a huge verminous bug transformed."

Re: How to Write in Plain English

#288

Post by williamsmj »

The Plain English Campaign is not a useful authority on English usage. They are a group of prigs and pedants who issue press releases about alleged errors by famous people in the hope they will receive coverage in the British press and bring in work for their consulting business.

I'm distressed to learn they now expound at book length and I'm surprised to see this garbage taken seriously by HN.

See, e.g. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002229.h..., https://web.archive.org/web/20110510090548/http://oliverkamm....

Re: How to Write in Plain English

#289

Post by ajarmst »

This is good advice, but we should be wary of assuming that writing well is easy or a matter of following rules. Like most things worth doing, good writing requires that we practice it regularly and over a period of years, that we are exposed to good writing, and that we have access to competent feedback on our own writing.

Every decent writer I know has worked diligently at practice, usually for years. They're also omnivorous readers of good long-form writing. Finally, they seek and are grateful for the advice of a good editor.

Talent can help you advance in skill more quickly and perhaps reach a higher ultimate plateau, but it does little to replace the requirement for observation, practice and review. I've often thought that talent is indistinguishable from interest and passion---it's what gets you to do the work, not a replacement for it.

Some minor comments: "utilize" should be on the list of words to avoid. I have yet to encounter a use of that word that wouldn't be improved by replacing it with "use". In technical and scientific writing, passive voice can be valuable when the salient concern is not the actor, but the act and its consequences. "The sheep were administered methamphetamine one hour before being tased" focuses on the study, while "we gave the sheep meth and then we tased them" focusses on the scientists. The former is often better for this type of writing.

Note: the example is from one of my favourite studies. I wish I had heard about before I chose my thesis topic: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1553-2712...

Re: How to Write in Plain English

#290

Post by StavrosK »

ThePadawan wrote: post #124
dgellow wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don't make your readers hold parts of the sentence in their head. Funny to read this as I'm learning German! In German the main verb of a sentence has to be at the end depending on the context (e.g: if it is a question, or following some prepositions such as "dass"). Let's say we want to build a question, it will be constructed this way: 1. question marker (such as "Was", "Wo", "Warum", etc) 2. subject 3. other det…

I had a Brazilian roommate who could second this. He (jokingly) complained this was the absolute worst when dealing with split-proposition-verbs: E. g. "aufgeben" translated part-by-part is "upgive", so "to surrender" or "to give up" in English. However, in sth. like 3rd position singular, the form would be "er gibt auf" ("he gives up"). But in German, the object goes between "gives" and "up". Thus, my roommate menti…

So, "the President gives his promise about improving unemploymemt rates up"?

This is no different in English: "He told the upstanding, proper young woman off".

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