7 rules for writing in plain english

7 rules for

writing in Plain English

Dr Nilam Ashra-McGrath, Research Uptake Manager, COMDIS-HSD

You can apply plain English techniques

to the following types of documents:

Reports

Case studies or ‘stories of change’

Abstracts for journals and conferences

Research briefings: 2-4 pages, key facts about

the project, good for website

Journal papers

Policy briefing: key findings, conclusions and

recommendations to government agencies

Using plain English techniques

will help you:

be more confident about writing concise and

relevant information about work in progress or

project findings

be able to produce work that is coherent, not

rambling

use non-academic/jargon free language to say

what you mean

if you are lucky, enjoy writing!

Plain English is...

“...a message, written with the

reader in mind and with the

right tone of voice, that is clear

and concise”

Source: How to write in plain English, www.plainenglish.co.uk

What is plain English?

It’s not about ‘dumbing down’ your research,

it’s about making things clear

It gets rid of jargon and clutter

It makes the text clean, so that it sparkles

Advantages:

Faster to write

Faster to read

Get your message across in an easier and friendlier

way


7 rules of plain English

1. Keep your sentences short

2. Prefer active verbs

3. Use ‘you’ and ‘we’

4. Avoid jargon (use words that are appropriate

for the reader)

5. Don’t be afraid to give instructions

6. Avoid nominalisations

7. Use lists where appropriate

Adapted from: How to write in plain English, www.plainenglish.co.uk

Sentence structure

Sentences should be 15-20 words long

Sentences should be Vary the length

Sentences should have 1 idea per sentence

Most long sentences can be broken up

Use everyday language to help you find ways to

break up the sentence


Example: sentence structure

ORIGINAL TEXT: Where possible, we include patients and

community members as participants and advisors within

our operational research recognizing the importance of

understanding patient and community views and

experiences and building accountability within the health

services.

3 ALTERNATIVES USING PLAIN ENGLISH:

Where possible, we include patients and community

members in our operational research.

We believe this helps build accountability within health

services.

We recognize the importance of understanding

patient and community views and experiences.

Example: sentence structure ORIGINAL TEXT: Furthermore, this study can explore various

factors through higher level statistical analysis such as logistic

regression analysis mainly to measure the main predictors of

knowledge (at least 3 danger signs) about danger sign during

pregnancy, current practice of early marriage and incidents of

violence within community.

PLAIN ENGLISH VERSION:

Furthermore, this study can explore various factors through

higher level statistical analysis such as logistic regression

analysis. This type of analysis is used mainly to measure the

main predictors of knowledge. There are at least 3 danger

signs, these are: 1) danger sign during pregnancy; 2) current

practice of early marriage; and 3) incidents of violence within

community.

Turning passive sentences into active

sentences means changing the structure

3 main parts to almost every sentence:

1. Subject (the person or thing doing the action)

2. Verb (the action, the ‘doing’ word)

3. Object (the person or thing that the action is done

to)

Prefer active verbs

Active sentences are ordered like this:

subject then verb then object

object then verb then subject

Passive sentences are ordered like this:

Nilam delivered a workshop

Nilam watched television

The workshop was delivered by Nilam

The television was watched by Nilam

Examples of passive

and active sentences:

Monitoring and supervision visits were made by the

researchers

Researchers made monitoring and supervision visits

Co-ordination meetings had been held by the district and

cluster supervisors with the respective District Development

Committee (DDC)

The district and cluster supervisors held coordination

meetings with their District Development Committees

(DDCs)

Who does what? ACTIVE SENTENCE

What is done by who? PASSIVE SENTENCE

More examples of passive

and active sentences

The coop was initiated by the villagers…

The villagers started the coop…

It was decided by the governor that the

assistance to the project was to be

suspended

The governor suspended the project

Now you try....example 1

The quality of care of these patients is to be

improved by use of evidence-based guides and

tools

Evidence-based guides and tools will improve the

quality of care for patients

Evidence-based guides and tools will improve

patient care

Evidence-based guides and tools will improve the

quality of patient care

Now you try...example 2

Research was conducted by the COMDIS-HSD

China team, between July and November 2012, in

coordination with the provisional Centres for

Disease Control

COMDIS-HSD China and the Centres for Disease

Control conducted the research between July

and November 2012

COMDIS-HSD China and the Centres for Disease

Control conducted the research for 5 months

Use ‘you’ and ‘we’

HERD has established a functional partnership with

the state and non-state sectors, local government

including community groups who are in need of

services thus creating appropriate balance of

demand and supply of services.

We have established functional partnerships with

the state and non-state sectors, including local

government and community groups. We believe

this creates an appropriate balance of demand

and supply of services.

Avoid jargon: what is jargon?

Special language used in business, medicine,

science, government and development work

Useful for specialist audience

Not useful for wider audience

Uses long, impressive-sounding words

Say exactly what you mean

Uses several words instead of one

Use the simplest words that fit

Makes the message harder to understand

Using plain English to

get jargon out of your sentences

On average, among adults, total food intake was higher for

males than for females

On average, men ate more than women

Obesity is a significant factor contributing to the incidence

of coronary disease

Overweight people tend to have heart problems

The significant increment in income was observed due to

HERD's capacity in generating funds from various sources

HERD increased it’s income by funding from x, y, z.

Don’t be afraid to

give instructions

The results of health check tests and examinations should be given by the doctor to the patient verbally and in written form

Doctors should tell the patients their test results. They should also put the results in writing.

A comprehensive case management guideline for family doctors in the China context has been developed, piloted and extensively revised, and is available to download online at www.comdis-hsd.leeds.ac.uk

We have developed comprehensive case management guidelines for family doctors in China. You can download this at www.comdis-hsd.leeds.ac.uk

http://www.comdis-hsd.dfid.gov.uk/






Avoid nominalisations

Nominalisation = the name of something that

isn’t a physical object, eg a process, technique

or emotion

They are formed from verbs (‘doing’ words)

Nominalisations are often used instead of verbs

Too many nominalisations makes writing very

long and dull, especially in passive sentences

Verb Nominalisation

Complete Completion

Introduce Introduction

Provide Provision

Fail Failure

Arrange Arrangement

Investigate Investigation

Expand Expansion

Discuss Discussion

Implement Implementation

Collect Collection

Verify Verification

Change these nominalisations:

The core research team of HERD had made onsite verification of the data

HERD researchers verified the data

There was provision of immunization and family planning services from the nearby clinic

The nearby clinic provides immunization and family planning services

The overall evaluation objective was to assess the implementation processes of FP/EPI integration

The objective was to assess the FP/EPI integration process

Use lists where appropriate

Lists, numbers and headings are your friends!

They help tidy up your text and signpost the

reader

They help present findings in a clear way

Remember to use digits for all numbers and

percentages

You can change the rules of grammar if it

makes the sentence flow better


Examples of when to

use numbers

One third respondents were Brahmin and Chettri.

33% were Brahmin and Chettri

Ninety-seven percent of parents were currently

married.

97% of parents were married

Every four in ten men consumed alcohol

40% of men consumed alcohol

Example of when to use a list

Studies were assessed based on four criteria by Michie and Abraham (2004). These criteria are random allocation or matched control group, pre and post intervention data reporting, reporting intention to treat analysis, and reporting all outcomes indicated by aims and objectives of the study.

Studies were assessed based on 4 criteria by Michie and Abraham (2004). These criteria are:

1. random allocation or matched control group;

2. pre and post intervention data reporting;

3. reporting intention to treat analysis; and

4. reporting all outcomes indicated by aims and objectives of the study.

Spot the un-needed words

Lessons learned = Lessons

Future plans = Plans

Background information = Background

(or leave it out)

Very unique = Unique

First introduced = Introduced

New innovation = Innovation

Early beginnings = Start

Source: www.mamud.com

Short words are better

than long words

Numerous Many

Individual Person, man or woman

Remainder Rest

Initial First

To implement To do

Attempt Try

Sufficient Enough

Referred to as Called



than long words

Facilitate Help

Utilize Use

Demonstrate Show

Initiate, commence Begin

In close proximity to Near

Despite the fact that Although

Endeavour Try



than long words

Exerts a lethal effect Kills

For the purpose of To

In view of the fact that Because

Is equipped with Has

Magnitude Size

Prior to Before

Subsequent to After

Until such time as Until

Remunerate Pay

Negatively affects Harms Source: www.mamud.com

Words to watch

Context

In the Vietnamese context = In Vietnam

Level

At the hospital level = At the hospital

Case

In the case of CVD, = CVD rates

rates increased by 10% increased by 10%


Words to watch

Respectively

Diabetes and hypertension increased by 3% and 12%

respectively

Diabetes went up by 3%; hypertension went up 12%.

Work

The NGO has worked to support

The NGO has supported

The organization worked to promote the sharing of lessons…

The organization shared lessons…


Things to avoid

Avoid sentences that begin with…

I might add…

It should be pointed out that…

It is interesting to note that…

Avoid inflated prepositions and conjunctions

Examples

With the possible exception of… Except

For the reason that… Because

He totally lacked the ability to… He couldn’t

She was unable to give any

information beyond the fact that… She said


Avoid weak starts

There is…

There are…

It is important to note that…

Interestingly…

It is self-evident that…

It goes without saying that…

I might add…

It should be pointed out that…


Common mistakes when writing

long documents

presenting a detailed description of your entire

research project

presenting academic subtleties

using jargon (unless absolutely necessary)

presenting all your findings in one place (much

better to be succinct in shorter document)

Checklist for avoiding clutter

Re-examine every sentence you write

Is every word doing useful work?

Can any thought be expressed more briefly?

Does anything sound pompous or pretentious?

Are you keeping any word only because you think it’s

beautiful?

Tool for cutting clutter

Roget’s Thesaurus or any other good dictionary of synonyms.

Contact me for guidance at:

[email protected]

7 rules for writing in plain english

Government & Nonprofit

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