| Clear writing, direct writing, simple writing, | | | | we, too, are trying to avoid ambiguous writing. |
| economical writing, easy-to-understand writing. All | | | | "Hard" has multiple meanings, including "Not easily |
| these phrases mean the same thing, and they | | | | compressed" and "difficult." In this sentence, "hard" |
| have one purpose—Help the reader to | | | | refers to "difficult," so we'll use that word. Now |
| understand what you are writing. Their opposites | | | | we have "Writers find avoiding ambiguity difficult." |
| are fuzzy writing, confusing writing, cumbersome | | | | Looking a bit deeper, we find another issue to |
| writing, complicated writing, and | | | | address. "Writers" implies writing, and "avoiding |
| hard-to-understand writing. | | | | ambiguity" refers to the writing that writers |
| How do we produce the first type of writing and | | | | produce. Thus, two parts of this sentence refer |
| avoid the second? This is the question that many | | | | to writing, which is one too many. The sentence |
| writers have asked. They ask this question | | | | really isn't about writers; it's about writing. The |
| because they care whether or not their readers | | | | rhetorical subject is "writing," or, in this case, |
| understand them. Most people who hire editors | | | | "ambiguous writing." We can remove the current |
| are seeking help with this exact problem. | | | | subject, "writers," and place "writing" in the |
| At Precise Edit, we have a powerful, yet simple, | | | | subject's place. Now we have "Ambiguous writing |
| strategy for producing clear writing that is | | | | is difficult to avoid." |
| superior to all other strategies: use the | | | | (Note: We could also assume that the sentence is |
| Subject-Verb-Object sentence structure. | | | | about “avoiding,” in which case we could |
| 1. Identifying the Subject, Verb, and Object | | | | use “avoiding ambiguous writing” as the |
| First, let's define our terms. Then we will examine | | | | rhetorical subject. This would give us “Avoiding |
| how this strategy works. | | | | ambiguous writing is difficult.”) |
| Subjects: The subject of the sentence is the | | | | Finally, we try to use positive statements. Instead |
| "doer" of the main action. Subjects come in two | | | | of the negative term "ambiguous writing," we |
| flavors. The grammatical subject is the word in | | | | want to write about "clear writing," or "writing |
| the subject's place in a sentence. The rhetorical | | | | clearly." What is clear writing? Difficult. After all |
| subject is the person, place, thing, or idea that the | | | | these changes, we are finally left with "Writing |
| sentence is about. This distinction is critical to | | | | clearly is difficult." |
| producing clear writing. Let's take a look at an | | | | Let's look at the evolution of this sentence: |
| example to see how the grammatical subject | | | | 1. Avoiding ambiguity is a task that many writers |
| differs from the rhetorical subject. | | | | find hard to accomplish. |
| “A major element of the strategy is | | | | 2. Writers find avoiding ambiguity a hard task to |
| simplifying that which is difficult.” | | | | accomplish. |
| In this example, "element" is the grammatical | | | | 3. Writers find avoiding ambiguity hard. |
| subject. This word is in the subject's place in the | | | | 4. Writers find avoiding ambiguity difficult. |
| sentence, followed by the verb "is." However, we | | | | 5. Ambiguous writing is difficult to avoid. / Avoiding |
| ask the question, "What is this sentence actually | | | | ambiguous writing is difficult. |
| about?" The answer is "simplifying." Therefore, the | | | | 6. Writing clearly is difficult. |
| rhetorical subject is "simplifying." | | | | 4. S + V + O in Action |
| You may have noticed that this sentence does, | | | | Let's examine another example to see how this |
| indeed, follow the Subject-Verb-Object structure. | | | | simple formula helps clarify complicated sentences. |
| The problem with this sentence, however, is that | | | | "John was the man, not me, to my dismay, |
| the grammatical subject and the rhetorical subject | | | | preferred by Mary when she examined her |
| are not the same. We want only one subject, i.e., | | | | choices of suitors." |
| the grammatical subject and the rhetorical subject | | | | You can fight your way through this sentence to |
| should be the same. When we put the rhetorical | | | | understand its meaning. Or we can use the S + V |
| subject in the place of the grammatical subject, | | | | + O structure to revise this sentence so you |
| we get, | | | | won’t have to. First, let's identify the |
| "Simplifying the difficult is a major element of the | | | | elements. |
| strategy." | | | | • Grammatical subject: "John" |
| Verbs: A sentence may have several verbs. The | | | | • Rhetorical subject: "Mary" |
| verb in the "verb's place" following the subject is | | | | • Main verb: "was" |
| generally the main verb upon which the rest of | | | | • Rhetorical action: “preferred” |
| the sentence hangs. The main action in a | | | | • Object: none, though the phrase "when she |
| sentence is called the rhetorical action. The main | | | | examined her choices of suitors" is in the object |
| verb and the rhetorical action may not be the | | | | position. The object of the rhetorical action |
| same. Generally, when we are trying to identify | | | | "preferred" is "John," which is in the subject |
| the rhetorical subject, we first have to identify | | | | position. (What a mess!) |
| the rhetorical action. | | | | We want our revised sentence to have the |
| Objects: The object of a sentence is the recipient | | | | following elements: |
| of the action or the person, place, thing, or idea | | | | • Rhetorical AND grammatical subject: "Mary" |
| upon which the rhetorical subject acts. Not all | | | | (or “she”) |
| sentences have an object. | | | | • Rhetorical action AND main verb: "preferred" |
| Let's look at an example and identify these parts. | | | | • Object: "John" |
| "John sent a bouquet of flowers to Mary to | | | | Putting these together, we have "Mary/she" + |
| surprise her on her birthday." | | | | "preferred" + "John." When we add the |
| Verbs: This example has two verbs, "send" and | | | | descriptors and elaboration, one result is: |
| "surprise," but the rhetorical action is "sent." In this | | | | "When Mary examined her choices of suitors, she |
| sentence, "sent" is both the grammatical verb and | | | | preferred John, to my dismay." |
| the rhetorical subject. | | | | 5. Three Final Tips for Using the S + V + O |
| Subject: The "doer" of the rhetorical action is | | | | Sentence Structure |
| John, so "John" is the rhetorical subject. In this | | | | Let me show you one really poor sentence, give |
| case, "John" is also the grammatical subject. | | | | you the final three tips for using this sentence |
| Object: What did John send? The action is | | | | structure, then show how these three tips can |
| performed on "bouquet," so "bouquet" is the | | | | clarify complicated writing. |
| object. Everything else in this sentence provides | | | | "The old man, who had been sitting at the same |
| additional description or elaboration upon the basic | | | | bench for as many years as I could remember, |
| idea of the sentence: "John sent a bouquet." | | | | never speaking, always watching the cars as they |
| Here, we can easily see that this sentence uses | | | | raced by, read his newspaper." |
| the subject-verb-object structure. | | | | To revise this sentence, we need to give you |
| (For those who REALLY like grammar, notice that | | | | three more pieces of advice: |
| the direct object, "bouquet of flowers," is placed | | | | 1. Keep the subject, verb, and object close |
| before the prepositional phrase "to Mary" instead | | | | together. |
| of using the indirect object "Mary." If we use the | | | | 2. Keep the subject-verb-object combinations |
| indirect object, the sentence will read, "John sent | | | | separate. |
| Mary a bouquet of flowers to surprise her on her | | | | 3. Limit the number of subject-verb-object |
| birthday." By using the indirect object, the simple | | | | combinations in a sentence. |
| form of the sentence seems to be "John sent | | | | The main subject, verb, and object in this |
| Mary." This may momentarily confuse the reader | | | | sentence are "man," "read," and "newspaper," |
| until he reads the rest of the sentence and | | | | respectively. However, this sentence also has the |
| figures out that John did not send Mary | | | | subject-verb combinations "who had been sitting," |
| somewhere but sent something to Mary.) | | | | "I could remember," and "they raced." "They |
| 2. Using S + V + O to Simplify Complex | | | | raced" serves as the object to "watching," which |
| Sentences | | | | is not the main action of the sentence. Finally, this |
| Our formula for clear sentences is S + V + O, | | | | sentence has two verbs that relate to the man |
| but, actually, the expanded version of this | | | | but that are not part of the main verb: "speaking" |
| structure is Rhetorical Subject + Rhetorical Action | | | | and "watching." |
| + Object. When a sentence follows this structure, | | | | The most important combination is, obviously, the |
| complex ideas can be presented clearly and | | | | main subject, the main verb, and the main object: |
| simply. Also, based on the above concepts, the | | | | "The old man read his newspaper." We'll start with |
| grammatical subject should be the rhetorical | | | | that one and add the floating verb "sitting," which |
| subject, and the main verb should be the | | | | he is doing while reading. This gives us: "The old |
| rhetorical action. | | | | man sat reading his newspaper." |
| Let's examine a sentence that does not follow | | | | What else do we know about the man? "He had |
| these guidelines and then see how applying these | | | | sat there silently watching the cars go by." (Note: |
| concepts help clarify the sentence. | | | | We changed "never speaking" to the adverb |
| "Avoiding ambiguity is a task that many writers | | | | "silently," which means the same thing and |
| find hard to accomplish." | | | | removes the unassociated verb "speaking.") Finally, |
| This poor sentence has the following elements: | | | | we'll use the combination that tells when he has |
| • Grammatical subject: "Avoiding ambiguity" | | | | sat there: "For as many years as I could |
| • Rhetorical subject: "writers" | | | | remember...." |
| • Main verb: "is" | | | | Putting all these together, the revised version is |
| • Rhetorical action: "find" | | | | as follows: |
| • Object: none, though the phrase "that many | | | | "The old man sat on the bench reading his |
| writers find hard to accomplish" is in the object | | | | newspaper. For as many years as I could |
| position. However, the object of the rhetorical | | | | remember, he had sat there silently watching the |
| action is "Avoiding ambiguity," which is currently in | | | | cars race by." |
| the subject position. (What a mess!) | | | | Why is this better? First, the two new sentences |
| Now let's apply our formula and see if the result is | | | | keep the subject-verb-object combinations tight. |
| any better. Again, the formula is Rhetorical | | | | The first sentence has "Man sat reading |
| Subject + Rhetorical Action + Object. | | | | newspaper." The introductory phrase in the |
| We want our revised sentence to have the | | | | second sentence has "I could remember." The |
| following elements: | | | | main clause of the second sentence uses "He had |
| • Rhetorical AND grammatical subject: "writers" | | | | sat watching the cars." Very few words are |
| • Rhetorical action AND main verb: "find" | | | | interspersed within these statements. |
| • Object: "avoiding ambiguity" | | | | Second, unlike the original version, the S + V + O |
| Putting these together, we have "Writers" + "find" | | | | combinations are separate. |
| + "avoiding ambiguity." When we add the | | | | Third, the number of S + V + O combinations are |
| descriptors and elaboration, the result is: | | | | limited in each sentence. The first sentence only |
| "Writers find avoiding ambiguity a hard task to | | | | has one, and the second sentence only has two. |
| accomplish." | | | | 6. Summary |
| After applying the formula, this revised sentence | | | | At Precise Edit, our most important editing |
| is more direct and clear. | | | | technique is to create the S + V + O sentence |
| 3. Economical and Efficient Writing | | | | structure. We believe that you will find it similarly |
| (Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Skip this section. It is | | | | useful. Since this article is a bit long, we'll leave you |
| off-topic, though potentially useful to those who | | | | with a quick summary of everything above. If |
| want to dig deeper into the issue of economical | | | | you can apply these ideas, your writing will be |
| and efficient writing.) | | | | clearer. |
| Let’s take another look at the sentence: | | | | Use the S + V + O sentence structure. All |
| "Writers find avoiding ambiguity a hard task to | | | | following ideas spring from this one. |
| accomplish." | | | | 1. The grammatical subject and the rhetorical |
| To use my Aunt Irene's favorite word, Precise | | | | subject should be the same. |
| Edit's editors are persnickety. We can criticize | | | | 2. The main verb and the rhetorical action should |
| even this clear sentence to discover whether or | | | | be the same. |
| not we can make it simpler and clearer. We find | | | | 3. Keep the subject, verb, and object close |
| that we can. | | | | together. |
| Performing a task implies accomplishing something | | | | 4. Keep the subject-verb-object combinations |
| or attempting to achieve some result, so "to | | | | separate. |
| accomplish" can be removed. This gives us | | | | 5. Limit the number of S + V + O combinations in |
| "Writers find avoiding ambiguity hard." | | | | a sentence. |
| This sentence is still not good enough, especially if | | | | |