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'Plain English' (sometimes known, more broadly, as plain language) is a communication style that focuses on considering the audience's needs when writing. It recommends avoiding unnecessary words and avoiding jargon, technical terms, and long and ambiguous sentences.
Plain English is advocated by supporters of the Plain Language Movement, who say that "people have a right to understand the documents that affect their lives."[1]
Some practices that are claimed to make written communication clearer are:
;Use Subject-Verb-Object construction by default.
:For example, instead of this: To ''update'' (verb) the ''address lists'' (object) may be ''your primary concern'' (subject), you should use this: ''Your primary concern'' (subject) may be to ''update'' (verb) the ''address lists'' (object).
;Avoid vocabulary that a good portion of your audience will stumble over. This applies especially to jargon, when the idea can be expressed as well using conventional language.
;Use verbs instead of "nounisms."
:A nounism is a verb rendered in its nominal form. For example, use the verb "introduce" instead of "introduction." Compare: "Jim ''introduced'' the speaker" to "Jim gave an ''introduction'' of the speaker."
;Use active voice instead of passive.
:For example, use "The police stopped the suspect" instead of "The suspect was stopped by the police." Sometimes the passive hides who the agent is, which can reduce understandability. For example, "Thirty houses were visited in three weeks." Unless you don't know who visited the houses, or it's completely irrelevant, the active is better: "The family visited thirty houses in three weeks."
;Avoid overly-long sentences.
:By the time you get to the end of some sentences, you have forgotten what came earlier in the sentence. The following sentence combines two poor choices - pompous vocabulary and excessive length: "If there exist any points on which you require explanation or further explication, we shall be glad to furnish such additional details as may be required via telephone." The following is better: "If you have any questions, please call us."
Before the 20th century, English-language writers commonly used long sentences and a very complicated style. In some other European languages, such as German, the use of long and sentences was even more extensive; for example, the philosopher G. W. F. Hegel was known for writing sentences that easily occupied three pages. It is not clear where this tradition came from, but it may have originated with classical Latin, in which such prose style was common.
In the late 19th century, several writers (e.g. Mark Twain) demonstrated that plain English could be elegant when executed properly.
During the 1920s, such style guides as William Strunk Jr.'s ''The Elements Style''[2] actively promoted the idea of writing in plain English. However, it would take over fifty years for Strunk's ideas to become widely accepted.
Plain English finally penetrated the fields of law and government during the 1970s, as shown by the passage of the Paperwork Reduction Act[3] of 1976, and the popularity of books like ''Plain English for Lawyers'' (1979).
A sentence written using plain English may be aesthetically pleasing, even if its style is not complicated and it does not incorporate irrelevance. Everything in the sentence should work towards communicating to the reader what the writer intended. Everything else should be deleted or streamlined. Plain English is efficient but not brutally so. In fact, it is an act of kindness to the reader, sparing them from confusion and from having to read unnecessary words.
★ Style guide
★ Basic English
★ Plain language
★ Plain Language Movement
★ Interactive EasyFlow software license & disclaimer excerpts
1. http://www.plainlanguage.com/faq.html#whyis
2. Strunk, William Strunk Jr. & White, E.B. (1918) ''The Elements of Style'', ISBN 0-205-30902-X (paperback 4th ed., 2000)
3. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=104_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ13.104
★ PlainLanguage.Com
★ Plain English Campaign
★ Plainlanguage.gov
★ Plain English Foundation
★ Plain language and legislation booklet: Office of the Scottish Parliamentary Counsel
★ Politics and the English Language
★ Plain language in Sweden, the results after 30 years
★ The Word Centre
★ Nigel Grant Training
★ The WriteMark, New Zealand's plain English standard
★ Write Group, New Zealand's plain English specialists
★ Word Centre, The Plain English People U.K.
★ United States Plain Language Network
★ The Plain Language Association, International
★ Clear as Mud, an Article from the BBC
★ The cost of poor writing in business
★ The Plain English Movement
★ Wydick, Richard C. (1979) ''Plain English for Lawyers'' Carolina Academic Press, ISBN 1-59460-151-8 (paperback 5th ed., 2005)
★ Rook, Fern ''Slaying the English Jargon'' (1992) Society for Technical Communication, ISBN 0-914548-71-9
★ Cutts, Martin (1996) ''The Plain English Guide'' Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-860049-6
★ Williams, Joseph M. ''Style, Toward Clarity and Grace'' (1995) University Of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-89915-2
Plain English is advocated by supporters of the Plain Language Movement, who say that "people have a right to understand the documents that affect their lives."[1]
| Contents |
| Recommendations |
| History |
| Important Influences |
| Aesthetics |
| See also |
| References |
| External links |
Recommendations
Some practices that are claimed to make written communication clearer are:
;Use Subject-Verb-Object construction by default.
:For example, instead of this: To ''update'' (verb) the ''address lists'' (object) may be ''your primary concern'' (subject), you should use this: ''Your primary concern'' (subject) may be to ''update'' (verb) the ''address lists'' (object).
;Avoid vocabulary that a good portion of your audience will stumble over. This applies especially to jargon, when the idea can be expressed as well using conventional language.
;Use verbs instead of "nounisms."
:A nounism is a verb rendered in its nominal form. For example, use the verb "introduce" instead of "introduction." Compare: "Jim ''introduced'' the speaker" to "Jim gave an ''introduction'' of the speaker."
;Use active voice instead of passive.
:For example, use "The police stopped the suspect" instead of "The suspect was stopped by the police." Sometimes the passive hides who the agent is, which can reduce understandability. For example, "Thirty houses were visited in three weeks." Unless you don't know who visited the houses, or it's completely irrelevant, the active is better: "The family visited thirty houses in three weeks."
;Avoid overly-long sentences.
:By the time you get to the end of some sentences, you have forgotten what came earlier in the sentence. The following sentence combines two poor choices - pompous vocabulary and excessive length: "If there exist any points on which you require explanation or further explication, we shall be glad to furnish such additional details as may be required via telephone." The following is better: "If you have any questions, please call us."
History
Before the 20th century, English-language writers commonly used long sentences and a very complicated style. In some other European languages, such as German, the use of long and sentences was even more extensive; for example, the philosopher G. W. F. Hegel was known for writing sentences that easily occupied three pages. It is not clear where this tradition came from, but it may have originated with classical Latin, in which such prose style was common.
Important Influences
In the late 19th century, several writers (e.g. Mark Twain) demonstrated that plain English could be elegant when executed properly.
During the 1920s, such style guides as William Strunk Jr.'s ''The Elements Style''[2] actively promoted the idea of writing in plain English. However, it would take over fifty years for Strunk's ideas to become widely accepted.
Plain English finally penetrated the fields of law and government during the 1970s, as shown by the passage of the Paperwork Reduction Act[3] of 1976, and the popularity of books like ''Plain English for Lawyers'' (1979).
Aesthetics
A sentence written using plain English may be aesthetically pleasing, even if its style is not complicated and it does not incorporate irrelevance. Everything in the sentence should work towards communicating to the reader what the writer intended. Everything else should be deleted or streamlined. Plain English is efficient but not brutally so. In fact, it is an act of kindness to the reader, sparing them from confusion and from having to read unnecessary words.
See also
★ Style guide
★ Basic English
★ Plain language
★ Plain Language Movement
★ Interactive EasyFlow software license & disclaimer excerpts
References
1. http://www.plainlanguage.com/faq.html#whyis
2. Strunk, William Strunk Jr. & White, E.B. (1918) ''The Elements of Style'', ISBN 0-205-30902-X (paperback 4th ed., 2000)
3. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=104_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ13.104
External links
★ PlainLanguage.Com
★ Plain English Campaign
★ Plainlanguage.gov
★ Plain English Foundation
★ Plain language and legislation booklet: Office of the Scottish Parliamentary Counsel
★ Politics and the English Language
★ Plain language in Sweden, the results after 30 years
★ The Word Centre
★ Nigel Grant Training
★ The WriteMark, New Zealand's plain English standard
★ Write Group, New Zealand's plain English specialists
★ Word Centre, The Plain English People U.K.
★ United States Plain Language Network
★ The Plain Language Association, International
★ Clear as Mud, an Article from the BBC
★ The cost of poor writing in business
★ The Plain English Movement
★ Wydick, Richard C. (1979) ''Plain English for Lawyers'' Carolina Academic Press, ISBN 1-59460-151-8 (paperback 5th ed., 2005)
★ Rook, Fern ''Slaying the English Jargon'' (1992) Society for Technical Communication, ISBN 0-914548-71-9
★ Cutts, Martin (1996) ''The Plain English Guide'' Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-860049-6
★ Williams, Joseph M. ''Style, Toward Clarity and Grace'' (1995) University Of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-89915-2
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