Journalists should not waste words. Their writing should be concise and tight. Adjectives and adverbs clutter up news stories and should be avoided wherever possible.

When it comes to writing – not just news writing but any kind of writing – adjectives and adverbs have a bad reputation.

Mark Twain said: “When you catch an adjective, kill it.” Stephen King said: “The road to hell is paved with adverbs”.

For many decades, the conventional wisdom in journalism has been that you do not, usually, need adjectives and adverbs. Your sentences will be better if you cut them out.

But wait! I just used “usually”, an adverb, and “better”, an adjective. If I cut them out, the first sentence will no longer be accurate, since I am trying to say that there will, occasionally, be a need. And the second sentence does not work at all if I remove “better”.

So you cannot ban the use of adjectives and adverbs.

But you should keep them to a minimum. Mark Twain, in fact, modified his advice:

“I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them (adjectives) – then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart.

“An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.”

Instead, make a virtue of economy: use as few words as possible. The newspaper guru, Leslie Sellers, in his 1968 guide, “The simple subs book”, put it this way: “fewer words, better sense”. Apply this across the board, but especially (a permissible use of the adverb in this case) with adjectives and adverbs.

Adjectives and adverbs are words that modify. Adjectives change the meaning of nouns. Adverbs change the meaning of verbs, phrases, clauses or sentences. You should always test whether the modification is necessary.

Here are a few examples of commonly-used but unnecessary modifiers, in which the first word can always be cut:

• completely untrue
• strictly necessary
• broad daylight
• considerable difficulty
• firm decision
• together with
• along with
• grateful thanks
• high-speed car chase

Adjectives to do with size are often too broad to add any useful meaning, like “big”, “huge”, “massive”, “astonishing” . They can be cut or replaced with something that adds to the understanding of the story.

Adjectives like “tragic”, “improved” “sad”, “incredible” “unfortunate” are especially dangerous since they include value judgements. Leave it to your readers or listeners to make their own judgements.

Two of the most objectionable words are “really” and “very”. They seldom add any meaning. Mark Twain suggested that every time you are tempted to write the word “very” in your story, substitute the word “damn” – then, as he put it, “your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be”.

Mark Twain was also down on adverbs. He said they were the tool of the “lazy writer”. In their most common form they end in “ly” and are attached to verbs. Here are some sentences which would be better without their adverbs:

“She tiptoed silently into the room.”
“He glared aggressively at the traffic warden.”
“She knew perfectly well he was lying.”
“He completely rejected the allegation.”

In all these cases, the adverb states the obvious. The verb does the job without needing modification. Always try to let the verb stand alone – if it needs strengthening with an adverb, it is the wrong choice of verb.

Journalists choosing their words are the same as carpenters choosing a piece of wood or tailors choosing a length of cloth. We are all craftspeople and our success depends on using the right raw materials – in our case, words.

So be sparing in your use of adjectives and adverbs. It is one of the qualities that marks a professional.

For further reading on this subject, you might want to read the excellent “A journalist’s guide to the use of English”, by Ted Bottomley and Anthony Loftus. It was written in 1971 and has been updated for this website by Ted’s son John.

The post The use of adjectives and adverbs in journalism first appeared on Media Helping Media.

Many news stories are about action. You want to capture that in your writing and seize the attention of your audience. One of the ways is by choosing the active voice.

Strong verbs are the best words for suggesting action: run, leap, hit, accuse, rescue, build, explore, kick, ride, catch, etc. And verbs have two “voices”: the active and the passive.

In the active voice: I wrote this module.

In the passive voice: This module was written by me.

In the active voice, somebody is doing something. In the passive voice, something is being done.

They are both perfectly correct, grammatically, but the active voice is shorter, stronger and more direct. It works much better in news stories. There are exceptions, which we will come to later, but in the vast majority of cases, the active voice gives your story impact and vitality.

Here are two ways of writing the same story:

Passive voice: After several months of better trading conditions, the annual bonus to staff at the Fred Smith store group will be paid for the first time in four years.

Active voice: Staff at Fred Smith stores will get their first annual bonus in four years, after the group reported better trading conditions.

The active voice works better – it is less wordy and it puts the human interest angle first.

So the active voice is a basic part of a journalist’s toolkit. It is the default way of writing an interesting story. But the passive voice is not all bad! Sometimes it is the right choice.

“A lion has eaten the president” is much less effective than “The president has been eaten by a lion”.

This is because the overwhelmingly important subject of the story is the president, not the lion, and you want the president mentioned at the beginning of the story. The passive voice serves better in this case.

So the starting point for news writing is to favour the active voice – and to recognise the comparatively rare occasions when it will be better to use the passive.

But there is another reason to understand the use of the active and passive voices. They do not just affect style and impact, they can also affect meaning.

People in the public eye, particularly politicians, sometimes use the passive voice to obfuscate, confuse and mislead.

The classic example is “mistakes were made”.  From the politicians’ point of view that is better than “I made mistakes” because it sets up uncertainty about what happened.

“I made mistakes and I’m sorry” is a very different statement from “mistakes were made and I regret them”.

In the latter case, the politician leaves open the possibility that the mistakes were made by someone else and his regret could easily be about someone else’s error. Because of the way he has phrased his statement, we cannot tell.

It is the skilful use of the passive voice to evade accountability.

Notice that when politicians describe their successes, they say “We took swift action to deal with the situation”. But when they talk about things that have gone wrong, they use words like “it was considered that…”, or “it was felt necessary….”, distancing themselves from the decision-making process through use of the passive voice.

I remember a philandering politician was asked at his latest wedding whether he would now be a faithful husband. He replied: “When a man marries his mistress, a vacancy is created.”

He was saying, in effect, that he would continue to have extra marital affairs – but in his choice of the passive voice, “a vacancy is created”, he was implying that some external force was creating the new opportunities for infidelity that he would no doubt later take up.

Again, the passive voice suggests the politician is an observer of what is happening, rather than the author of it.

So when you are quoting some public figure, make sure to point out any ambiguities created by his use of the passive voice.

You might want also to look at these thoughts on use of  the passive voice by David Poulson at the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism.

The post The active and passive voices in news first appeared on Media Helping Media.

The function of punctuation

Chapter 4 from the book ‘A journalist’s guide to the use of English’

PUNCTUATION is designed to make reading easy. It is the written counterpart of those pauses and verbal inflections which make speech understandable. It also serves to separate sentences, phrases and words into orderly elements. Without correct punctuation written language becomes garbled.

The most important marks of punctuation are: The comma, the semi-colon, the colon and the full stop.

The comma

THIS marks short pauses. It is the most frequently used punctuation mark and also the most misused.

The comma is used:

1. In the place of and to separate a series of words of the same kind.

E.g. The reporter should always write clear, concise, accurate English.

(The words separated by commas are all adjectives defining English.)

The same rule applies to series of other words, provided they belong to the same part of speech.

E.g. She said the same to James, Michael, John and Alexander.

(The separations here are all between proper nouns in a series.)

2. Before and after :

(i) Words or phrases such as: however, for instance, in fact.

(ii) Alternatives.

E.g. His writing was more refined, more intellectual, than Smith’s.

3. To mark off:

(i) words in the vocative. E.g. John, don’t go yet.

(ii) words or phrases in apposition (i.e. a statement in parentheses). E.g. Elizabeth II, Queen of England, has four children.

(iii) Participial phrases.

E.g. Being unaware of the situation, he blundered on.

(iv) Absolute phrases. E.g. That being so, we shall go by train.

4. In double sentences:

(i) Where there are two subjects. E.g. He wanted to leave, but his friend detained him. He felt ill, and his friend had to help him.

(ii) Where there is only one subject, but two verbs, the inclusion of the comma is necessary to make the sentence easier to read. E.g. I visited Thomas and Perks and Marks and Spencers, and later went home.

5. In complex sentences to separate:

(i) qualifying phrases. E.g. In spite of your attempt at secrecy, I know what happened.

(ii) subordinate, non-defining clauses. E.g. The reporters, who were called in on their day off, worked quickly. BUT NOT in defining clauses. E.g. The house that Jack built.

The semi-colon

THE semi-colon marks a longer pause than that indicated by the comma, and it is used:

1. In double sentences, where there is no conjunction;

E.g. The rumour was that the king was dead; the people believed it.

2. In the same kind of sentence where the conjunction is expressed, but where the writer intends the reader to note a longer pause between statements than a comma would signify.

E.g. There will be an inquest, of course; but the matter will not end there.

3. To divide several parallel clauses.

E.g. The ship sank within minutes; all hands and passengers were lost; no wreckage was sighted.

The colon

THE difference between the semi-colon and the colon is that the latter is used when the writer wishes to indicate an even longer pause than that indicated by the semi-colon. It is used:

1. Always before opening quotes. E.g. The Mayor said: “I am glad to be here.”

2. Before listing articles, or people or ideas. E.g. He sold the lot: boat, tackle, mooring rights and fishing licences.

E.g. They rejected his views on all subjects: sex, love, literature, marriage, violence.

E.g. All of them were dead : Bill, Jack, Ted and Willie.

3. To distinguish between two co-ordinate clauses, where the second explains the first. E.g. Keep your language uncluttered: it reads more easily.

4. In a double sentence where the two ideas are in antithesis. E.g. Man proposes: God disposes.

The full stop

THE full stop denotes the end of a sentence. It is also used after initials and abbreviations, but check your HOUSE STYLE for newspaper practice varies.

Other marks

1. The exclamation mark.

Use this only when it forms part of a title (of a film, etc.) or after an exclamation.
E.g. A beard, you say!

2. The question mark.

This should be used after a direct query. E.g. He asked: “Are you coming?”

(Note the question mark is inside the quotation marks because the whole question is quoted.)

If the question is not part of the quotation it comes outside the quotation.

E.g. Have you read “Pilgrim’s Progress”?

3. Quotation marks (inverted commas).

Use these for titles of books, plays, etc., only where this is consistent with House Style.

Use these also for direct quotes. E.g. He asked: “Are you coming?”

Where a quote comes within a quote use single commas inside. E.g. He asked: “Have you read ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’?”

4. The parenthesis.

This can take the form of: (i) Brackets. E.g. If we believe (as we should) that syntax is important, we should master it.

(ii) The long dash. E.g. If we believe—as we should—that syntax is important, we should master it.

The long dash is to be preferred because it keeps the sentence more fluent.

5. The hyphen.

The hyphen, or short dash, is used:

(i) For compound nouns. E.g. mother-in-law.

(ii) For compound titles. E.g. Adjutant-general.

(iii) For compound nouns which are made up of verbs and prepositions. E.g. call-up, get-together.

(iv) To link a suffix with a proper noun. E.g. pre-Christian.

(v) For compound adjectives. E.g. a black-bearded beggar (the beggar has a black beard). NOT a black bearded beggar (this means the black beggar has a beard).

(vi) To link numbers. E.g. Ninety-nine.

(vii) To distinguish between meanings. E.g. Re-cover (cover again); recover (regain).

(viii) To avoid clumsy juxtapositions of vowels or consonants. E.g. co-operation, snail-like.

(ix) Where the word looks odd without the hyphen. E.g. NOT rerun BUT re-run.

6. The apostrophe.

This has two uses:

(i) To denote a missing letter (or letters). E.g. don’t, can’t fo’c’s’le.

(ii) As a mark to denote the genitive or possessive case. E.g. Jacob’s ladder.

Possessives

Rules:

1. Before the S if it is singular; after the S if it is plural (E.g. boy’s and boys’).

2. Where the plural changes the ending of the word and thus has no S, the apostrophe goes before the S which is added (E.g. man’s, men’s).

Following this rule can produce some clumsy possessives, but this is unavoidable.

You cannot write: Strauss’ waltzes. It must be: Strauss’s waltzes.

However, if two men named Strauss are involved, you don’t write:

Strauss’s waltzes or Strausss’ waltzes; you simplify it to Strauss’ waltzes, because the plural of Strauss is Strauss.

3. Avoid double apostrophes:

The Inkmakers’ Society’s conference (write: The conference of the Inkmakers’ Society).

4. Avoid clumsy possessives:

The Vicar of Downtown, the Rev Owen Brown’s book (again invert it: The book by the Rev Owen Brown, Vicar of Downtown).

5. Avoid confusion with quotation marks, particularly single quotes.

You cannot write: In ‘The Times’s’ opinion.

It should be; In the opinion of ‘The Times’.

N.B. Possessive of WHO is WHOSE not WHO’S. Possessive of IT is ITS not IT’S.

Revised by John Bottomley 2020

About this training module

Ted Bottomley and Anthony Loftus were both journalists and training managers at the Express & Star group of newspapers in the UK. The group has given this site permission to publish the module (above), which is one of six taken from the book ‘A journalist’s guide to the use of English’, first published in July 1971 but still relevant today. You can find links to all six chapters below.

Ted Bottomley spent his whole working life in newspapers and more than 25 years in journalism. He was a former weekly newspaper editor, and had a long association with the National Council for the Training of Journalists. He was a member of the Publishing and Editorial Training Committee of the Printing & Publishing Industry Training Board. In the UK journalists still compete to try to win the prestigious ‘Ted Bottomley Award’.

Anthony Loftus was a high court reporter and film and music critic before becoming the Editorial Training Officer of the Express & Star group. He was a member of the Institution of Training Officers and the Association of Lecturers in Journalism, and the chair of the West Midlands Regional Training Committee of the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

You can read more about the book, the men behind it, and how it has been revised and updated by Ted Bottomley’s son, John, a newspaper journalist for 40 years.

The six chapters of ‘A journalist’s guide to the use of English’

• Chapter 1: The use of English
• Chapter 2: The essence of style
• Chapter 3: Word Power
• Chapter 4: Spelling
• Chapter 5: Syntax and sentence construction
• Chapter 6: Punctuation

The post Punctuation first appeared on Media Helping Media.

Introduction

Chapter 5 from the book ‘A journalist’s guide to the use of English’

A GOOD VOCABULARY IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE journalist, because, as we have stressed, words are the raw materials of communication. But word power alone is not enough; we also need to master syntax, the craft of construction, before we can be effective writers.

If the construction is faulty, the communications bridge is weakened. It follows, therefore, that we must know not only the meaning of words but also their function in a particular context. Confusing the function leads to error in sentence construction and a consequent loss, or ambiguity, of meaning.

It is for this reason that we have stated that a knowledge of syntax is the foundation of a good style. We have also stated that the good reporter is the person who is in the right place at the right time and who has the right word ready. We have examined what constitutes the right word. We shall now consider how to put the right word in the right place.

It is assumed that every journalist should have a basic knowledge of English grammar, but this assumption is becoming more suspect each year. Grammar is no longer regarded as a vital ingredient of secondary education. There may be good ground for the educationists to state that grammar, as such, is no longer essential for everyday life. But where everyday life involves written communication, as it does for the journalist, then the premise is faulty.

It is no part of our purpose, however, to write a complete introduction to English grammar.
All that we can do in this comparatively brief consideration is to examine those areas where errors are frequently made; to give examples of these pitfalls and to state the rules for avoiding them. Some of the rules stated may seem very basic but all refer to errors that occur frequently. Indeed, this study has been prepared to answer a need exposed by analysis of common faults.

Sentence construction 1

A SENTENCE is a group of words expressing a complete thought.

Definition: A sentence must have a verb and a subject, either stated or understood.

Rule: The verb is the most important part of the sentence, for it is this which gives the sentence its meaning (verb is derived from the Latin word verbum which means word). The verb expresses action or a state of being. which is related to the subject.

Sentences come in four types:

E.g. The News Editor has been promoted – statement (called the indicative by the grammarian).

E.g. Promoted, you say! – exclamation.

E.g. Why hasn’t the Deputy Editor been promoted? – question.

E.g. Give the Deputy Editor the job – command (traditionally called the imperative).

The subject is easy to find in the statement – the News Editor has been promoted

In the exclamation or question one has to invert the sentence to find the subject (i.e. convert each into a statement):
– you say promoted.
– the Deputy Editor  hasn’t been promoted, why not?

In the command the subject is understood:
– you give the Deputy Editor the job.

Pitfall:

The most common error (often, unhappily, a deliberate one is to write a “sentence” that is incomplete, by leaving out either subject or verb.

E.g. The story may read: “The new cruise liner sailed majestically down the river. She has been built with all the care that skilled craftsmen could give her. And the stamp of their reputation.”

What about the stamp of their reputation? What is it doing? Remember, a sentence must have a verb.

E.g. Less objectionable is the omission of the subject. “The old man lay down. And died” In this example he is understood. The words and died could have been added to the first sentence. They are disjoined to give emphasis to the finality of it all.

However, this technique should be used very sparingly and in the right place. However, beware of the chatty columnist’s “ Met a man last week” type of construction.

Objects

ALL SENTENCES should have a subject (either expressed or understood) and a verb, but not all sentences have an object. Indeed some verbs cannot have an object.

Definition: The object is the person or thing which receives the action of the verb.

E.g. The journalist (subject), writes (verb), headlines (object).

Writes is thus a transitive verb for the action has crossed over to the object. But if nothing receives the action of the verb, the verb is intransitive.

E.g. The journalist (subject) smiles (verb)

This is a complete statement unless one adds the word rarely and that is an adverb telling us how often the journalist smiles. It is not an object.

Again transitive verbs can be used intransitively where no object is given.

E.g. The reporter (subject) writes (verb)

Objects may be either direct or indirect.

E.g. The reporter (subject) sent (verb) the story (object) to the Editor (indirect object)

The main (direct) object is the story for this received the action.

The secondary (indirect) object is the Editor who received, not the action, but the object itself.

The concept of ‘case’

SUBJECTS, objects and indirect objects are the roles in which parts of speech may occur. However, the grammarian does not call them “roles”. They are called cases.

The subject is in the nominative case.

The direct object is in the accusative case.

The indirect object is in the dative case.

However, as there is no distinction in form between the accusative and dative, we may use English terms and think simply of the subjective case and the objective case.

The complement

ONLY those verbs which express an action (active verbs) take an object. Inactive verbs express a state of being (or existing and take a complement, for each half of the sentence complements the other.

Inactive verbs may be described as linking verbs for they link two balancing halves of a sentence. The most common of these is the verb to be in its various forms – am, is, are; was, were, etc. But there are others such as seem, appear, become, and verbs like taste, smell, feel, look, but only when the verb is inactive.

E.g. He (subject) feels (verb) ill (complement) BUT He (subject) feels (verb) the cloth (object)

Summary

A sentence must have a verb and a subject (stated or understood). Active verbs take an object; inactive verbs take a complement. Both the subject and the complement are in the subjective case; objects (either direct or indirect) may be described as being in the objective case.

It is also necessary to know that prepositions (with, by, on, etc.) are followed by nouns or pronouns in the objective case. The importance of this will be seen when we consider pitfalls affecting the use of pronouns and prepositions.

Sentence construction 2

THERE is one other very common pitfall area in sentence construction and that concerns the agreement of the subject and the verb.

The verb must agree with the subject in person and number.

E.g. (Person): I give BUT He gives.

E.g. (Number): Spelling is important,  – BUT – Spelling and Syntax are important.

Agreement in person is an easy matter, for the verb changes only in the third person singular.

Agreement in number, however, has several complications, al! involving possible pitfalls. So several more rules must be stated.

Rules:

1. Double subjects require a plural verb form, but words joined to a single subject by a preposition do not affect the verb.

E.g. Spelling and syntax are important –  BUT – Spelling, with syntax, is important.

2. If two subjects are linked by either-or or neither-nor the verb agrees with the subject nearer it.

E.g. Neither the News Editor, nor any of the reporters, have received the call.

3. If one subject is affirmative and the other negative the verb agrees with the affirmative.

E.g. The Editor, not the reporters, was having lunch.

4. Nouns, plural in form but singular in meaning, take a singular verb.

E.g. Mumps is unpleasant.

5. Plural subjects describing a unit of measurement are treated as singular.

E.g. Thirty folios is a lot of copy.

6. The word number is treated as singular when it refers to a mathematical figure, but as plural when it means a few.

E.g. A number is printed on each keyboard – BUT – A number of keyboards are required.

7. Singular pronouns and adjectives (e.g. each, one, everyone, another) take a singular verb form, BUT None can be either singular or plural.

E.g. Have you any bananas? No, there are none – BUT – Have you any beer? No, there is none.

Here and there cannot be subjects of sentences. They are adverbs.

E.g. Here are your tickets (subject – tickets).

There is your ticket (subject – ticket).

Note: These sentences are inverted.

Parts of speech

AS SOON as we discuss parts of a sentence (e.g. subject, object, complement) we become involved with parts of speech. There are eight of these: noun, adjective, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection (or exclamation). We can forget about the interjection; it should never appear except in a title (e.g. “Oh! Calcutta!”).

However, the seven others all produce problems which we shall look at in turn, before considering further pitfalls in sentence construction.

Verbs 1

IN DISCUSSING sentence construction, we have stressed that the verb is the most important part of the sentence. Verbs are the words which provide the motive power for the sentence.

The engine can run at tick-over speed, in which case the verb is simply expressing a state of existence (i.e. I smile). Or the engine can give directions to the sentence. These verbs are transitive verbs and take an object.

We have seen that verbs can be transitive or intransitive and we have also seen that transitive verbs can be used intransitively.

E.g. I paint pictures (transitive). I paint (intransitive).

In addition, we have said that verbs can be linking verbs (e.g. the verb to be) in which case they take a complement.

It is also necessary to recognise three other attributes of the verb-voice, tense and mood.

Voice:

Verbs can be used actively or passively. This is called their voice.

Generally speaking the active voice makes for more effective prose and certainly should be used in headline writing, although there are exceptions to this rule (E.g. Kennedy shot).

Be on your guard against the double passive (E.g. the point is sought to be evaded) and such monstrosities.

Tense:

There are three basic times (present, past and future) and three basic actions (simple, completed and continuing) and these give nine different tenses as the following table shows:

Simple

Present: I see
Past: I saw
Future: I shall see

Continuing

Present: I am seeing
Past: I was seeing
Future: I shall be seeing

Completed

Present: I have seen
Past: I had seen
Future: I shall have seen

Traditionally the continuing tense is called the imperfect and the completed is called the past perfect, but the names are unimportant.

Three other tenses can be formed where there is a mixture of continuing and completed action:

Present: I have been seeing.
Past: I had been seeing
Future: I shall have been seeing.

Pitfalls:

There are two main pitfalls, which occur in the use of tenses:

1. Mixing past and present tenses in narrative reporting. (The present tense is often used for impact, as in captions.)

E.g. Armstrong steps on to the moon.

When this form is used it must be used consistently. One cannot then say:

He hesitated with one foot on the ladder.

2. The second main source of trouble is the failure to place tenses in their chronological order, particularly when using reported speech.

E.g. The speaker may say: “I am in favour of nuclear disarmament because I have witnessed the effects of radiation.”

In reported speech the present simple and present completed tenses must become past simple and past completed: He was in favour …. because he had witnessed.

Mood:

Verbs can be used in several different ways. These are called moods. The three main forms are:

1. Indicative – statement, question or answer.

2. Imperative – command.

3. Subjunctive – supposition.

The verb forms in the tables of tenses on the previous page (to change to mentioned earlier) were all in the indicative mood.

The imperative mood produces just two forms – “see” and “be seen”.

E.g. (You) See the cashier about your wages. (You) Stand up and be seen.

However, it is the subjunctive mood which produces the pitfalls.

Rules:

1. The verb-forms for the subjunctive mood are the same for all verbs (except to be) apart from a small change in the third person singular, present tense.

E.g. “She has faith” becomes “If she have faith.”

“He finds” becomes “Should he find.”

2. With the verb to be the following alterations occur:

Pitfalls:

The confusion in recognising the subjunctive occurs in three ways:

1. The use of the verb be is not always a subjunctive. It is often a corruption of should be. (Simple future tense.) E.g. I move that the matter be discussed (should be).

2. Where the past subjunctive is not really past at all; but has to do with supposing not with pastness.

E.g. If that were my headline I would re-write it. (Subjunctive.) If that was your headline yesterday you perpetrated a libel. (Indicative, simple past tense.)

N.B.: Use were for the supposed, untrue or impossible situation. E.g. If 1 were you. If I were king.

3. The subjunctive need not be prefaced by if. It may be prefaced by such words as:

Imagine you were king.

As though you were on the board.

Just suppose you were the Editor.

Nouns

HALF the words in your dictionary are common nouns. They are the names given by man to places, things, emotions and states. Uncommon or proper nouns are the names given to persons or special places or things (e.g. George, London, Tuesday).

Common nouns are called abstract nouns when they refer to abstract things such as qualities (beauty, honesty), emotions (anger, pity), states (friendship, childhood) and processes (day-dreaming, bird-watching).

Collective nouns is the term given to collections of things/people (e.g. forest, crew, flock).

The most common pitfalls in use of nouns concern plurals, possessives, collectives and gerunds – which are not, in fact, nouns at all.

Possessives: These are discussed in notes on the Apostrophe in the section on Punctuation.

Collectives: Generally, a collective should be treated as singular, but if the result sounds silly make it into a plural and make sure the verb agrees.

E.g. The Cabinet is determined. – Correct for Cabinet is a single body.

The Cabinet is discussing. – Incorrect. A single entity cannot discuss.

The Cabinet is divided. – Correct. It must be unified (i.e. one) before it can be divided.

The Cabinet are agreed. – Correct. It takes more than one to agree (c.f. Discussing).

Rule: If both a single and a plural application occur in the same sentence, choose the most suitable and stick to it. Don’t be pedantic; do be consistent.

Exception: Sport – a team is always treated as plural E.g. Chelsea were defeated.

Gerunds

Definition: GERUNDS are verbs in participle form used as nouns.

Pitfalls: Participles act as adjectives; gerunds act as nouns.

E.g. A running man (participle, adjective). Running is his hobby (gerund, noun).

N.B. Because gerunds are equivalent to nouns, they require a possessive case in certain instances.

E.g. I saw her running (objective because running is a participle describing her). She was keen on her running (possessive, because running is a gerund).

Adjectives

Definition: ADJECTIVES are used to describe or limit the meaning of a noun, pronoun or other adjective by indicating which, how many or what kind.

The most common adjectives are: the definite article (the) and the indefinite article (a, an).

Demonstrative adjectives identify the noun or pronoun (this, that, these, those). If these words are used without a noun they become pronouns (e.g. Those were the days).

Possessive adjectives show ownership (my, your, our, etc.), NOT to be confused with mine, yours, ours which are pronouns.

N.B.: In English adjectives do not change their ending in order to agree with the noun as to number or gender. Nor do we make them agree when we use nouns as adjectives. E.g. Trade unions NOT Trades unions.

Adjectives of number: The main problems, however, occur in the use of adjectives of number, adjectives of degree and absolute adjectives.

Rule: Fewer refers to number, less to degree or quantity.

E.g. Fewer strawberries in the fields results in less fruit in the shops.

Adjectives of degree: These adjectives are used to compare one noun with another. E.g. The curry is hot (hot is an adjective joined by a linking verb is to the noun curry).

In this sentence the adjective hot is a positive statement, but there are degrees of heat.

Definition: The degrees of comparison are positive, comparative and superlative.

E.g. The curry is hot (positive). The curry is hotter (comparative). The curry is hottest (superlative).

Pitfalls: The superlative is used only where three or more things are compared.

E.g. He is the younger of the two brothers. (Comparative degree because only two brothers are compared.)

She is the eldest of the three sisters. (Superlative degree because three sisters are compared)

N.B. Elder, eldest are used where there is a family relationship; otherwise older and oldest are used.

E.g. He is the oldest of the club members.

Pitfall: The form to be used in adjectives of degree also causes confusion.

Rules:

1. Where there is one syllable in the adjective add ER, EST. E.g. cold, colder, coldest.

2. Where there are three syllables, use the words more, most (less, least). E.g. Curious, more curious, most curious.

3. Where the adjective has two syllables follow idiomatic usage. E.g. Ugly, uglier, ugliest – BUT – hopeful, more hopeful, most hopeful.

Absolute adjectives: Some adjectives cannot be compared because the quality of the adjective is absolute.

E.g. A thing is either perfect or less than perfect. It cannot be more or most perfect. It is equally ludicrous to write more fatal.

The following are further examples of absolute adjectives:

Absolute,
Basic,
Complete,
Empty,
Essential,
Final,
Full,
Ideal,
Impossible,
Obvious,
Pure,
Unique,
Ultimate

Colours: Colours are also absolute when used as adjectives denoting quality. You should not write less red or more blue when you mean lighter red or deeper blue. However, more can be linked with a colour when referring to quantity.

E.g. I have more red paint than blue (quantity not quality).

Names and titles

WE may have been taught that names are nouns, but this is only partly true.

The Christian name is the noun (e.g. John). But the surname is adjectival in function for it describes which John. E.g. John Smith – John, the smith. John Robinson – John, the son of Robin. John Bottomley – John, who lives at the bottom of the meadow.

Pitfall: One should not write: Rev. Smith, for this is using an adjective to describe an adjective without any noun being present.

One must say

The (definite article) Rev. (adjective) John (noun) Smith (adjective)

The same applies to knights:

Sir (adjective) John (noun) Smith (adjective)

However, one cannot apply the same logic where Lord and Lady are used, because the use or omission of the Christian name denotes a different rank.

Indefinite article: The simplest adjective is the indefinite article a or an.

Rule: Use an where the noun begins with a vowel or silent h.

E.g. an hour, an honourable intention NOT an hotel because it is now acceptable to sound the H.

Definite article: Do not write: Death occurred yesterday. Write: The death occurred yesterday.

Prepositions

THERE are two “rules” about the use of prepositions: one should be remembered; the other ignored, for it is not a rule at all.

Rule: Prepositions take an object. (The importance of this will be seen when we consider pitfalls in the use of pronouns.)

Non-rule: “Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.”

This sentence, of course, breaks its own rule and in so doing makes its point; prepositions at the end of a sentence can make a sentence very ugly. However, contriving to avoid using a preposition at the end of a sentence can be just as clumsy.

E.g. Consider the Churchillian: “ This is something up with which I shall not put”.

The answer is to use some common sense, remembering the criteria that language should be easy to understand and should sound well. If your sentence does not meet those criteria, re-cast it. If the use of a preposition at the end of a sentence is unavoidable, it does not matter provided that the sentence reads easily. In any case, you will be in good company, for all the great English stylists have broken this so-called rule.

Idiomatic usage: The most common error in handling prepositions is to use the wrong one. This is not so much a matter of rule as of idiomatic usage.

The following is a list for your guidance:

abhorrence of
absolve from
accord with
acquiesce in (not to)
adapt to (purpose)
adapted for (by nature)
affinity between (not to)
agree on (a point)
agree to (a proposal)
agree with (a person or opinion)
aggravated by
alien from (not to)
amenable to
arise from (not out of)
averse to
bestow upon
(the mind) boggles at (not with)
change for (a thing)
change with (a person)
chary of
compare with (not to)
compatible with
confer on (but bestow upon)
conform to (but in conformity with)
connive at
consider (no preposition; do not use as)
convenient for (purpose)
convenient to (person)
comprise (no preposition; do not use of)
correspond with (person)
correspond to (thing)
consequent upon
deficient in
die of (not from)
derogatory (to)
different from (not to; nor than which is a conjunction)
differ from (things or persons, in a comparative sense)
differ with (a person when disagreeing)
dissent from (not to)
distaste for
equal to
exception to
glad at (a piece of news)
glad of (a possession)
guiltless of
impatient for (things)
impatient with (persons)
inculcate upon someone (not inculcate someone with)
independent of (not from)
indicative of
ineligible for
inflict upon
infuse into (not with)
inspired by
instil into
irrespective of
martyr for (a cause)
martyr to (a disease)
oblivious of
part from (persons)
part with (things)
prefer to
prevail against (things)
prevail on (persons)
profuse in
pursuant to
reconcile to (thing)
reconcile with (person)
satisfied with
similar to
taste of (food)
taste for (arts)
thirst for or after (knowledge)
unconscious of

N.B.: Avoid compound prepositions. E.g. in connection with, in regard to

Some are worse than others; the worst constitute some of the greatest abominations in English usage.

Pronouns

MOST of the pitfalls in the use of personal pronouns arise from a failure to recognise in which case the pronoun is, although the problem is rarely seen or defined as such. Briefly, what is in doubt is the ending of the pronoun.

This difficulty arises because it is unfashionable to talk about case in relation to the English Language. But an understanding of case answers the difficulty.

Rule:

1. If a first person pronoun is the subject or complement of a sentence, it is in the subjective (nominative) case and the form I.

2. If a first person pronoun is the direct object, it is in the objective (accusative) case and the form is Me.

3. If a first person pronoun is the indirect object, it is in the objective (dative, this time) case and the form is Me.

You and me: More often than not you and me is correct. But how do you recognise when it is right?

First of all, forget the you. This does not change its form and so it is no help; it only gets in the way of your thinking. Simply think about the I and me.

E.g. (You and) I are going for a walk. I = subject = subjective (nominative) case.

Will the ball hit (you or) me? Me = object = objective (accusative) case.

Will he give the ball to (you or) me? Me = Indirect object = objective (dative) case.

On the other hand modern usage has over-ruled the pedantic form:

It is I, I am he.

Because the verb to be takes a complement I and He are in the subjective (nominative) case, but everyone says “It’s me”. However, these forms are primarily used in speech not in writing.

Another source of confusion is found where two pronouns are linked. A common error is to construct a sentence like this:

The Editor gave he and I the afternoon off.

Consider these statements singly:

The Editor gave him the afternoon off. The Editor gave me the afternoon off.

Hence, the Editor gave him and me the afternoon off.

Pitfall:

Should we say between you and me or between you and I.

The answer is that between is a preposition and all prepositions (e.g. with, by, in, from) take an object. So this needs the objective (accusative) case and it must be between you and me. If in doubt, try another preposition. Would you say with I? No, it must be with me.

Who and whom: Now let us look at the pitfall that arises over the use of who and whom. Again the same rules apply.

E.g. Who will come with me? Who = he = subject = nominative case.

Whom did he kick? Whom = him = object = accusative case.

By whom was he kicked? Whom = him = of preposition by = accusative case

To whom shall I give it? Whom = him = Indirect object = dative case.

The simplest test is to substitute he for him. If he is right, it should be who. If him is right, it should be whom.

Conjunctions

A FREQUENT source of error is to confuse conjunctions with prepositions, particularly in such constructions as:

He is as tall as me. She is older than me.

Both these are incorrect. The correct form is :

He is as tall as I (am). She is older than I (am).

Verbs 2

Compound verbs: Verbs may be simple (I saw) or compound (I was seeing).

Compound verbs comprise auxiliary words (was, would be, might, etc.) and participles (seen, seeing).

Pitfalls:

1. to be afraid of splitting them.

E.g. “You must occasionally use conjunctions to link one idea with another.”

This is idiomatic and more precise than the form: “You must use conjunctions occasionally.”

2. On the other hand, avoid splitting compound verbs by whole phrases or clauses. This makes reading and understanding difficult.

E.g. “You must, if you are to write effective sentences which can be readily understood by the reader, whatever his intelligence, use conjunctions.”

Shall and will: The rule is quite complex but the following is a rough and ready guide:

Shall is used with the first person verb form (singular and plural) and will with the second and third person (singular and plural) verb forms.

E.g. I shall, We shall – BUT – He will, You will, They will

These forms should be inverted only when extra emphasis is required.

1. You shall succeed. 2. I will succeed.

Non-finite verbs:

Verbs can be finite.

E.g. I walk; I am walking

or non-finite (participles used as adjectives; gerunds and infinitives).

Gerunds and infinitives: We have seen how easily the gerund can be confused with the adjectival participle, but the gerund can also be confused with the infinitive.

E.g. We can write:

I am able to meet him.
I am competent to perform the operation.
It is sufficient to perform one task.
It is adequate to assume.

Each of these italicised words is followed by an infinitive but similar words require a gerund.

We can write:

“Sufficient to perform (infinitive) – BUT – We must write: “equal to performing (gerund).

This is largely a question of idiomatic use but it is possible to give a few examples of where a gerund may be needed:

E.g. after a noun or pronoun:

“with a view to his performing” (notice the possessive)

after an adjective:

“equal to performing” (note: to is a preposition; it is not part of the verb)

after a verb:

“The Chancellor is able to introduce a new tax” (infinitive) – BUT – “The Chancellor is committed to introducing a new tax” (gerund)

Pitfalls:

1. Failing to use the infinitive. E.g. Try to get – NOT – Try and get.

2. The infinitive is not always prefaced by to.

E.g. I taught him to cook.
I saw him write.
I wanted him to sing.
I heard him shout.
I asked him to depart.
I watched him go.

All are infinitives. There is no logical reason for this but certain verbs (e.g. see, hear, need, know, observe, let, watch, feel, etc.) do not require to in the infinitive form.

Split infinitive: There are occasions when the split infinitive can be the lesser of two evils. And the alternative evils are ambiguity and artificiality. Let us consider these separately.

1. Ambiguity:

Which of these is the lesser evil?

The object is to further cement trade relations (split infinitive)

OR

The object is further to cement trade relations. (In the latter we don’t know if a further object or further cementing is implied.)

2. Artificiality, where the artificial avoidance of a split infinitive upsets the rhythm of the sentence.

Which of these do you prefer?

(a)   “The modifications are intended to better equip candidates.”
(b)   “The modifications are intended to equip better candidates.”
(c)   “The modifications are intended better to equip candidates.”

(a)   is the split infinitive
(b)   better has now become an adjective, we have now got superior candidates
(c)   is obviously contrived and artificial.

So choose (a). It is the simplest, the sanest and it sounds most pleasant.

Adverbs

Definition: JUST as adjectives describe (or limit) nouns and pronouns, adverbs describe (or limit) verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.

Pitfalls: There are several pitfalls that can arise if they are positioned incorrectly.

1. To make them into adjectives, as in the example quoted above: “the modifications are intended to equip better candidates”.

2. To make the adverb qualify the wrong verb.

E.g. Correct: You must occasionally use conjunctions to link one idea with another.

E.g. Incorrect: You must use conjunctions occasionally to link one idea with another.

(Here occasionally qualifies to link instead of must use. Hence we have occasionally linking instead of occasionally using.)

Often the best guide is to follow the idiomatic form where the meaning, by common usage, is clear.

3. Complements can be separated from the verb, but try to avoid a sentence where the adverb separates the object from its verb.

E.g. Incorrect: They have interpreted rightly the situation. Correct: They have interpreted the situation rightly.

N.B. Beware of irrelevant adverbs. Consider the cliche leave severely alone where severely has no meaning. You cannot be severe in this negative way.

Sentence construction 3

MOST of the pitfalls in sentence construction stem from a disorderly mind, for they are breaches of good order. Even simple sentences can make nonsense.

E.g. For the second time in a week a woman was drowned in her bath at Blanktown.

A sentence can also be silly because it is too orderly:

E.g. Injured fighting a fire at a Downtown fish shop last night Downtown fireman George Shaw, of Upper Street, Downtown, was treated at the Downtown General Hospital.

Quite clearly this did not happen in Blanktown but does one need all this repetition?

The main sources of error, however, occur in four main areas:

1. The non-sequitur (double sentences where the second statement has no logical relationship with the first half; hence, it does not follow sensibly).

2. The incorrect positioning of a phrase.

3. The incorrect positioning of a clause.

4. The misrelated or unrelated participle.

Let us have a look at them.

The non-sequitur:

E.g. A new pension scheme will be introduced next year and it is expected that by the year 2000 there will be twice as many octogenarian pensioners as there were in 1970.

This implies, quite wrongly. that the new pension scheme will lead to greater longevity. The ideas are unrelated and should be expressed as separate statements.

Misplaced phrase: E.g. Betty Blott was charged with stealing a purse at Downtown Magistrates’ Court today.

Misplaced clause: E.g. After his car had crashed at Blanktown a fireman had to be called to release the driver.

Whose car? The fireman’s?

Misrelated participle: E.g. Walking across the road, the car ran over him. (Walking across the road is a phrase which is intended to describe him; positioned as it is, it describes the subject – i.e. the car.)

The sentence should read: Walking across the road, he was run over by the car.

Rule: Participles used in this way are adjectives. Hence, participial phrases are adjectival in function and must be related to the correct noun or pronoun. They must not be left dangling. Consider the following:

1. Participial phrase (correct) – Having rested, the troops marched on.

2. Dangling or misrelated participle (incorrect) – Having rested, the march continued.

3. Absolute phrase (correct) – The troops having rested, the march continued.

Defining phrases and clauses

Another common pitfall is the wrong use of commas in defining phrases and clauses (see also Punctuation).

Consider the difference in meaning between these two sentences:

1. The reporters aware of the deadline worked fast.
2. The reporters, aware of the deadline, worked fast.

The first example means that only those reporters aware of the deadline worked fast. The second means that all the reporters were aware of the deadline and all worked fast.

In the first instance the phrase aware of the deadlines defines, limits and restricts.

In the second instance, the same phrase describes or comments in a non-restrictive way.

The same distinctions occur where clauses are used:

1. The reporters who were aware of the deadline worked fast and

2. The reporters, who were aware of the deadline, worked fast.

Rule:

If the phrase or clause defines, omit the commas. If the phrase simply extends the information by giving additional descriptions, include the commas. (The distinction is that commas enclose a phrase or clause which can be left out without changing the meaning.)

That and which: We have come to regard these two words as interchangeable, although grammatically they are not.

Rules:

1. That should be used with the defining clause (i.e. where the commas are omitted).

E.g. The house that Jack built.

2. Which should be used where the clause is non-defining (i.e. where the commas are used).

E.g. In the island of South Uist, which I have just visited, there is not one single tree.

N.B. – That can also replace who in a defining clause.

E.g. The reporters that were aware of the deadline worked fast.
(This substitution of that for who makes the defining function more apparent.)

Revised by John Bottomley 2020

About this training module

Ted Bottomley and Anthony Loftus were both journalists and training managers at the Express & Star group of newspapers in the UK. The group has given this site permission to publish the module (above), which is one of six taken from the book ‘A journalist’s guide to the use of English’, first published in July 1971 but still relevant today. You can find links to all six chapters below.

Ted Bottomley spent his whole working life in newspapers and more than 25 years in journalism. He was a former weekly newspaper editor, and had a long association with the National Council for the Training of Journalists. He was a member of the Publishing and Editorial Training Committee of the Printing & Publishing Industry Training Board. In the UK journalists still compete to try to win the prestigious ‘Ted Bottomley Award’.

Anthony Loftus was a high court reporter and film and music critic before becoming the Editorial Training Officer of the Express & Star group. He was a member of the Institution of Training Officers and the Association of Lecturers in Journalism, and the chair of the West Midlands Regional Training Committee of the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

You can read more about the book, the men behind it, and how it has been revised and updated by Ted Bottomley’s son, John, a newspaper journalist for 40 years.

The six chapters of ‘A journalist’s guide to the use of English’

• Chapter 1: The use of English
• Chapter 2: The essence of style
• Chapter 3: Word Power
• Chapter 4: Spelling
• Chapter 5: Syntax and sentence construction
• Chapter 6: Punctuation

The post Syntax and sentence construction first appeared on Media Helping Media.

The importance of language

This is another training module from The News Manual, part of a series reproduced on this site about language and style in news writing. In this modules, we offer guidance on how to write sentences for maximum understanding and why care over language is important.

Your main task as a journalist is to help people understand what is happening around them; in their village, in their country and in the world. Most readers or listeners will not have your knowledge of language, so you must simplify it for them.

You should be able to examine the most complicated issues and events, then translate them into language which your audience can understand. If you fail in this, people will stop buying your newspaper or tuning in to your radio or television station. You will be failing in your job.

For many journalists today, English is the main language used for newspapers or magazines, radio, television or the Internet. This training module is written in English, so it concentrates on the English language. It is worth remembering, however, that even a language as common as English is not exactly the same all over the world.

There are differences between, for example, UK English and American English. There are often also differences in the way English is written or spoken within individual countries. It may sometimes be difficult to decide what is correct in the English used in your country.

Language is developing all the time, and your country may not yet have a well-established set of rules for English. If this is so, you should use the form which is accepted as correct by the most literate educated people in your country. Above all, use words and grammar which are most easily understood by your readers or listeners.

Although you are reading this in English, you may do a lot of writing in other languages. Many of the general points we make about writing style will apply to these other languages. Learn the general points and try to apply them to your own language or languages.

You may get some guidance on such things as sentence length, punctuation or word usage from your organisation’s style books. These are books which lay down rules for language you must follow in your particular paper or broadcasting station.

You should ask your editor or chief of staff for a copy of your organisation’s style book. Unfortunately, many small or new organisations do not have their own style book. In these chapters, we try to give you some general guidelines for language use and writing style. Use this advice to create your own style guide.

Short, sharp, clear sentences

Whether you write for newspapers, broadcasting or the Internet, you should always aim for words and sentences which provide the maximum amount of understanding with the minimum risk of confusion.

This generally means keeping words and sentences short and simple. You can use long words, but you must be sure they are doing their job properly. There is no room in your sentences for fat and lazy words. If words do not add to understanding, get rid of them.

Sentence length

There is no single rule about the length of sentences in news writing, but you should set yourself a target for the maximum number of words you use.

We suggest that you never use more than 20 words in any sentence, except in special circumstances. If you follow this rule, your sentences will be simpler, there will be less room for error and you will make a more efficient use of words.

An alternative way of judging the best length for your sentences is to count the number of ideas or concepts you expect your reader or listener to understand. Compare these two examples of the same story. Notice how version A tries to pack all the ideas into one sentence, whereas version B splits them into three separate sentences:

Story A: Four aircraft passengers, the pilot and three people travelling in a car were killed when a twin-engined Beechcraft Baron aircraft hit an electric power line and crashed near Nadi airport this week.

Story B: Eight people died when an aircraft crashed near Nadi airport this week.
The pilot and four passengers died when their twin-engined Beechcraft Baron hit a power line. The plane then crashed into a car on a road near the airport, killing three more people.

Notice that, although Story B is 12 words longer than Story A, it is split into three sentences. None of the sentences in Story B is longer than 20 words. Get someone to read both stories out loud to you, and you will quickly see that Story B is easier to understand.

The reason is simple. Story A contains six separate ideas for the reader or listener to understand at one time:

1. the people in the plane;
2. the people in the car;
3. the type of plane;
4. the cause of the crash;
5. the location of the crash;
6. the time of the crash.

Story B, by comparison, has fewer ideas in each sentence. The first sentence has just four simple ideas:

1. the total number of dead;
2. a simple description of the type of plane;
3. where it crashed;
4. when it crashed.

The second sentence tells us:

1. how many died in the plane;
2. the exact type of plane;
3. the exact cause of the crash.

The third sentence tells us:

1. how the people in the car died;
2. where the car was;
3. how many died in the car.

You may argue that Story B, as well as being longer, gives a total of ten ideas to understand. However, many of those ideas are not separate. They relate to details in the preceding sentence. Linking ideas and repeating details often helps understanding. More important, those ten ideas are not thrown at our audience in one breath. The full stop at the end of each sentence (which comes as a pause on radio and television) allows the reader or listener time to digest one set of facts before moving on to new details.

We recommend that you try to limit each sentence to no more than three separate ideas. You can occasionally use four ideas per sentence, as long as those ideas are not complicated. We fitted four ideas into the intro of Story B above because two of the ideas – the time and place – are very simple and easy for the reader to understand.

Lively language

The words you use will help to make your story easy to understand. Long words are not bad in themselves, if they are the only words available to explain a particular meaning accurately. However, the English language is large and varied so there are usually shorter alternatives which do the job just as well as long words.

Many young journalists think that they have to use the whole of their vocabulary when writing even the simplest news story. You may wish to show off your knowledge of the language, but your knowledge is not what matters. The vocabulary of your reader or listener is more important.

Some journalists also believe that they can only add drama or depth to a story by adding words. We get sentences like:

The man ran swiftly across the street to help the defenceless boy who was being brutally beaten.

Take out the adjectives and adverbs in italics. They are unnecessary and only slow the sentence down. The word swiftly is unnecessary because people do not usually run slowly. The boy is obviously defenceless, otherwise he would not be being beaten. And the word brutally is unnecessary, as most beatings are brutal. The sentence is now much livelier and sharper:

The man ran across the street to help the boy who was being beaten.

The most effective way to add drama to a sentence is to choose the verbs carefully. For example, try changing the verb “ran” to “strolled”, “walked”, “flew” or “thundered”. See how they alter the whole picture of what happened. We do not suggest that you change verbs simply to add drama. Every word must accurately describe what happened. But it is better to choose the correct verb than to add unnecessary adjectives and adverbs. The use of a variety of verbs is most common in sports reporting, where we read of players kicking, shooting, powering or rocketing the ball into the net.

Using new words

Many careless writers introduce new words without thinking how they will be understood. Sometimes they change nouns into verbs, in order to make sentences shorter. The danger with this is that the resultant verb is often less precise than the original phrase and is less readily understood by people. Avoid using verbs such as:

To author (use to write)
To hospitalise (use to admit to hospital or to be in hospital)
To parent (use to be a parent or to act like a parent)

You must be very careful about introducing new words which your readers or listeners might not understand. This is especially important if the word is in their second language. Stay with familiar words.

However, if you cannot avoid using a new word, you must follow it immediately with an explanation. For example, many English language newspapers and broadcasters use the Russian word glasnost quite freely when speaking of the changes in the Soviet Union. When they first began to use it, they needed to explain that glasnost means “the opening up of a society which has previously been rigidly controlled”.

There are also times when new words or usages have been readily accepted by society before the media decide to use them. It would be foolish, for example, to fight against the use of farewell as a verb in the South Pacific. People often speak of `farewelling a friend’.

Sentence structure

It is not enough to write short sentences using simple words. You also have to construct your sentences in such a way that the ideas are easy to understand.

The sentence “the man hit the table” is in the active voice (where the man is the hitter). The sentence “the table was hit by the man” is in the passive voice. Wherever possible, write in the active voice. That is the way most people speak. People do not say “the bus was missed by me”, they say “I missed the bus”.

However, there are times when you cannot avoid using the passive voice. This is particularly so when it is not clear who is responsible for the action or when the subject of the sentence is unimportant or unclear. For example we would write:

Three children have been admitted to hospital with suspected food poisoning. (Passive voice)

It would be wrong to use either of the following versions, the first because it is not clear who admitted them (was it a doctor or a nurse?), the second because we are not sure that it was food poisoning:

Someone admitted three children to hospital with suspected food poisoning.

or:

Food poisoning put three children in hospital.

Other factors which can make sentences too complicated for your reader or listener to understand include:

Subordinate clauses

You should avoid starting a sentence with a subordinate clauses. Subordinate clauses usually begin with words such as “while…”, “as…”, “although…”, “even though…”, “because …” and “despite…”. They are separate phrases within a sentence which help to put the main part of the sentence in context. In the following example of bad sentence construction, the subordinate clause is in italics:

BAD: Although there has been a 20 percent increase in murders this year, the Prime Minister has vowed not to bring back hanging.

The main point of the sentence is that the Prime Minister has said he will not bring back hanging. The subordinate clause sets this promise in the context of the rising crime rate. In the example above, putting the subordinate clause at the beginning of the sentence may confuse your readers or listeners. They expect to hear the main facts first. Rewrite the sentence as follows:

BETTER: The Prime Minister has vowed not to bring back hanging, despite a 20 percent increase in murders this year.

And and but

Even simple joining words like and and but can cause confusion if they are not used wisely. These words are called conjunctions because they join things together. The word and is quite acceptable when used to join together two words or phrases:

The man and the woman had two daughters and a son.

However, it should not be used to join together long lists of ideas which can quite easily be split into separate sentences. In the two examples which follow, the first version is confused by using and and but. By splitting it into separate sentences we do not alter the meaning, we simply make it easier to understand, for reasons we discussed in the section on sentence length:

RIGHT: Import duty on meat and vegetables will be reduced by ten percent.
The special subsidy for rice exporters will be increased by five percent. These changes will come into effect after the next budget.

WRONG: Duty on imported meat and vegetables will be reduced by ten percent and the special subsidy for rice exporters will be increased by five percent but these changes will not come into effect until after the next budget.

Paired negatives

Paired or double negatives in English are not only bad grammar (“he has not got no pawpaw”), they usually create confusion, especially in the spoken word. Although logically paired negatives simply cancel each other out, many people do not use them in this way. Many other languages have totally different rules about paired negatives, and even some British dialects use the paired negative to add stress to a negative idea.

For example, the sentence “He was happy” is easy to understand. So is the sentence “He was unhappy”. But what do you understand by “He was not unhappy”. Was he happy or unhappy? Do you see the confusion? Make it a rule: avoid paired negatives.

Objectivity

Your language must not only be easily understood, it must be fair. You should not use words which give a biased view of a person, an event or a situation.
Many words develop special, biased meanings because of the way they are commonly used in a community. In some cases, you cannot avoid using such words. Take care that the words you use reflect the meaning in the community and not your own opinions.

In particular, you should be careful about using words which describe disputes or conflicts. In these cases, each side to the dispute may choose to use the words which reflect well on them and badly on their opponents. As a journalist, you should try to steer the middle course.

The most obvious cases of bias are introduced by the use of adjectives and adverbs. A protester’s peaceful resistance may seem like violent obstruction to a policeman on duty. An injured person waiting for an ambulance may think it arrived slowly when the ambulance driver believes he drove fast.

Verbs too can be loaded with bias. The same protester who lobbed a stone at a police van may be seen by the men inside to have hurled it at them. A boss sees his workers go on strike, the workers may say they withdraw their labour. Words like sack, retrench and make redundant describe similar situations in which people lose their jobs, but they mean quite different things to the bosses and workers involved. Some American companies even speak of letting workers go, even though the workers themselves have no choice.

Nouns can also express bias. A building can be a house to a poor person, yet seem like a shack to the rich observer. It may seem to be in a suburb to its owner, and in a slum to the rich man. And who is rich? If you have $100 you will be rich to a beggar, but poor to a millionaire.

It is impossible to list all the words which may contain bias. You must look at each word individually and ask yourself if it is fair and accurate.

Quotes

You are on safer ground when you use words in quotes. That way the reader can judge the bias through the eyes of the person you quote. (In radio or television, it is better to use a recording of people speaking the actual words, called actuality.) In the following example, look at the difference between these two sentences describing the same crime. Notice how the magistrate and the accused see the crime in opposite ways:

The magistrate said: “These were mean and despicable thefts, carried out against a defenceless family for no good reason.”

The accused said: “I never robbed anyone. I just took from the rich people and gave it back to the poor.”

Do not pass judgment. Give the words in quotes and let you readers or listeners judge for themselves.

An added advantage of using quotes is that you can use much livelier language – the words the people themselves used.

To summarise

You must keep your language clear and simple so that your readers or listeners can understand.

Sentences should be short – no longer than 20 words or three concepts (ideas).

Sentence structure should be simple; it is best to write in the active voice.

Explain any new words whenever you use them.

This module is taken from The News Manual’s Chapter 10: Language & style basics.

Related training modules

Language and style – grammar

Language and style – words

Language and style – translation

The post Language and style – the basics first appeared on Media Helping Media.

Reporting and writing across different languages

In the previous three modules on language and style from The News Manual we look at the basic structures for news articles, the words used when writing reports, and some important grammatical rules.

In this, the final module of four, we look at these issues in the context of reporting and writing across different languages, some of the challenges of translation and some of the main dangers to look out for.

If you are a journalist working in a multilingual society, you may have to work in more than one language. Whether you gather the information in one language and write the story in another, or whether you write a story first in one language and then rewrite in another language, you face the task of translation. However, if you have a good command of both languages and follow a few simple rules, translation should not be difficult.

This module is written only in English, but the processes we describe always involves two or more languages. It is possible that English will not be one of the languages you work in when translating. To avoid confusion, we will call the language which you are translating from (or conducting interviews in) the source language; and we will call the language you are translating into (or writing the final story in) the target language.

The principles of translation

The first thing to remember is that translation is the transfer of meaning from one language to another. It is not the transfer of words from language to language. You must translate the meaning of what is being said, rather than do it word-for-word. This is because languages are not just different words. Different languages also have different grammar, different word orders, sometimes even words for which other languages do not have any equivalents. The English spoken by a scientist may have words which a simple farmer cannot even start to imagine. And the farmer is likely to have words for things the technologist never dreamed of.

Simple steps in translation

We will start by talking about the simplest form of translation – the one where you already have a story written down in one language (the source) and you want to translate it into another language (the target). The steps to follow are:

Read the whole of the original source story through from beginning to end, to make sure that you can understand it. If you cannot understand everything that is said, you cannot translate it. If there are any words or phrases that you do not understand, you must clarify these first. You may decide that the ideas they express are too difficult to translate or not worth translating, but you need to know what they are before you can judge.

Do a first draft translation, trying to translate all the source material. But do not translate word-for-word. Remember that you are translating the meaning. When you have finished the first translation, you will now have a draft story in the target language.

Go back over the whole of your draft translation and polish it without looking at the source original. (You might even like to turn the source story face down on your desk so you cannot cheat.) Make sure that your translation reads well in the target language. Compare the final version of your translation with the source original to make sure that you have translated it accurately. This is when you can make any detailed adjustments in individual words or phrases.

False friends

Beware of words or phrases we call “false friends”. These are words in the original source language which you retain in your translation, often because you cannot think of the correct translation. If you cannot think of the right word, how can you expect your reader or listener to? Of course, languages borrow from each other all the time. If a society comes across a new idea, it may simply use the foreign word without inventing a word of its own. Remember, however, that you are translating meaning, not words. If you come across a word in your original language which has no equivalent in the target language, perhaps you can use a phrase (i.e. several words) instead. For example, many languages do not have a word for “computer”. Instead of retaining the English word “computer”, can you translate it as “a machine which does brain work” or something similar? Be careful, though, that you do not try to re-invent the community’s language to suit your own way of thinking. If you have problems with translating words, consult experts or ask your colleagues to see if you can reach agreement on the correct translation. If you are a journalist working in a small language community, the words you decide upon could become the standard usage.

Of course, some foreign words will inevitably creep into other languages. Words like “computer” are becoming widely accepted by speakers of non-English languages and may eventually be understood by everyone. The problem arises in the time between the foreign word being first introduced and it being understood by everyone. During such transition periods, use the word untranslated, but follow it immediately with a translation or explanation. For example, you might write in your target language the equivalent of:

The provincial government is to buy computers for each of its local offices. The computers are machines which will help office staff to keep accounts, write letters and do other jobs.

Dictionaries

You cannot translate words in isolation. Words get their meaning from how they are used in each situation – what we call their context. You must do a contextual translation. You should use a bilingual dictionary where one is available, but be careful when looking up translations for individual words. Dictionaries are useful, but there is very often more than one translation for individual words. The best dictionary is one which defines the word in its various contexts. For example, a simple English word like “skip” has several quite different meanings. It can mean any of the following, depending on the context: to move lightly, especially by jumping from one foot to another; to omit or leave something out; to deal with something quickly and without much thought; a large container for transporting building materials, especially waste. It can even be short for “skipper”, the captain of a ship or sports team. You can see that using the wrong translation of “skip” could have some unfortunate results.

Listen to the little voice in your head if it tells you that a translation seems strange. It is better to ask advice than to write something silly. You may not know all the uses for each word, especially slang words which you cannot find in dictionaries. For example, mechanics often refer to an adjustable spanner as a “monkey wrench”, when it has nothing to do with monkeys.

Writing style

You do not have to be an expert in linguistics to make good translations. If you know your target language well, you can usually hear in your head whether the sentence sounds correct in your translation.

Your translation should not try to duplicate the word order or grammatical construction used in the source language unless it is also correct in your target language. For example, some languages put the verb (the “doing word”) at the beginning of a sentence, some in the middle and some at the very end.

You do not have to use all the words from your source material for translation if your target language can cope without them. For example, we may say in English “The ship sank lower in the water”, whereas in another language the words “in the water” may be unnecessary because the words for “sink” in relation to “ship” already includes the idea of “water”.

Also, do not be afraid of using more words in your translation than in the original. Although in journalism you should aim to keep your sentences short and crisp, this must not be allowed to interfere with the clarity of the ideas you are trying to communicate.

Some other problem areas

Translation is a very big and complicated field which we cannot discuss in great detail here. However, the following are some other problem areas you might want to keep in mind:

Understatements and euphemisms

Be aware of the cultural differences in languages. Some languages like to hide unpleasant facts beneath understatements or euphemism. Euphemisms are mild or inoffensive words which are used in the place of harsh or hurtful words.

Some speakers might use humour in one situation which another language would not permit. Again, you must understand the meaning in context.

Linking words

Words such as “although”, “but”, “from”, “even” and a host of others are usually very important in English, as they are used to show the relationships between the words in your sentences. Getting these small words wrong can alter entirely the sense of the sentence.

Verbs

These can sometimes cause problems in their different forms. There are, for example, quite distinct meanings for the words “can”, “may”, “must” and “should”. If you are not sure, it is best to avoid the construction altogether and say it a different way.

Accuracy

Some languages are more accurate than others in certain areas. For example, many language groups in Papua New Guinea have more than 10 different words for varieties of sweet potato. The Inuit Indians of Canada have different words for 20 separate things which in English we just call “snow”.

English is not a precise language in many areas. Be aware that a vagueness in English may not be acceptable in another language. For example, we can say “Doctor Smith” in English, whereas in Chinese we have to know the gender of the doctor to translate the word “doctor”.

Ambiguity

Sometimes the exact meaning in the source language is left unclear (ambiguous) on purpose, in which case you should try to keep it that way. This is especially so when reporting claims, accusations and hearsay evidence in such things as police stories. For example, a person might be charged in English with “unlawful carnal knowledge”, which usually means a sexual offence against a person under the age of consent. You should not translate that as “rape of a child” or “sodomy of a little boy” or any other specific sexual act unless that is part of the charge. It is better in this case to use a phrase similar to “a sexual offence against a young person”.

Names and titles

There is still a debate about the need or otherwise of translating names from one language into another. For example, would you retain the English title “Education Department” or translate it into something like “office for schools”? Of course, a lot depends on how the rest of your community use the term, especially those people who are most closely involved, such as the Education Department itself. Your newspaper, radio or television station may have a policy on this. If not, perhaps you should get together to decide on a policy, taking into account how the community in general deals with names and titles. Get a large, hard-bound exercise book for the newsdesk, thumb-indexed A to Z down the side. You can call this your Translation Style Guide. Once you have agreed on the correct translation for any problem word, enter the word with its translation on to the correct page in the book. Revise the book every so often to make sure that all the entries are still relevant. If your newsroom computers are networked, create a common file which everyone can access.

There are two ways people use names (or titles). The first is to identify the place or person, the second is to describe their function. It is usual to leave untranslated names which act as signposts for people, but translate those names which describe a function. For example, you would not translate the word “Baker” in the name “Baker Street”, because it acts as a signpost, but you would probably translate the name “Police Station”.
If a language used by your community is also used elsewhere in the world, you should remain aware of how it is spoken in other countries. For example, French may be commonly used in your society, so you need to keep up-to-date with how French is used in other French-speaking countries. Remember that all languages change, especially in their motherland. Constantly refresh your understanding of the way the language is developing both in your own society and elsewhere.

Translation during news gathering

So far, we have talked mainly about rewriting a story in one language into a story in another language. But your work may involve interviewing in one language and writing the story itself in another language. For example, your newspaper may be printed in English, but you have to interview a villager in his mother tongue which is not English.

The best way of doing this is to conduct the interview in the villager’s language and make your notes in that language too. You can then translate your quotes into English as you write your story. This method means that, while you are conducting the interview, you can ask questions in the villager’s language to clarify any doubtful points. You can also check your story back with him in his language to make sure you have the facts correct.

However, some languages may have been written down only recently and so may not have a clear and easy written form in which to make your notes. If this is so, and if you are fluent in both languages, you may be able to listen in the villager’s language while making your notes in English. You are translating as you listen and write. This may work perfectly well, but a word of warning: Trying to translate while also concentrating on what the villager is saying may introduce errors into your notes. Ask the villager to slow down a little so that you can make your notes, then check your notes at the end of the interview by translating them back into the villager’s language for him. Radio and television journalists can overcome this problem by using their tape recorders, but newspaper reporters might also find a tape recorder useful in such situations. You should still make notes, but have a tape recorder running at the same time so that you can check later to make sure that you made the correct translation during the interview.

There is one final complication of which you must be aware. This comes when you are interviewing in a source language, writing your story in a target language and then having to translate the same story back into the source language. This might occur if you have to produce a special language bulletin or an edition of your newspaper in the source language. The danger is that you might not get an exact translation back into the source language, and so you might misquote someone. When writing a story which has to be translated twice, always refer back to your original notes when writing your second story, so that you can get the quotes exactly right.

To summarise

As this is the last of the four modules on language and style, here is a recap of the main lessons covered in the series:

• You must keep your language clear and simple so that your readers or listeners can understand.
• Sentences should be short – no longer than 20 words or three concepts (ideas).
• Sentence structure should be simple; it is best to write in the active voice.
• Explain any new words whenever you use them.
• Avoid jargon, unnecessary words and clichés.
• Check all your work to make sure that everything you write obeys the rules of grammar and punctuation.
• When translating, translate the meaning of sentences, not the individual words.
• Always keep your readers or listeners in mind whatever you write.

This module is taken from The News Manual’s Chapter 13: Language & Style – Translation.

Related training modules

Language and style – the basics

Language and style – words

Language and style – grammar

The post Language and style – translation first appeared on Media Helping Media.