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Better English 101
Tips For Communicating Better
Vol I, No. 1
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in this issue
-- Transitional Phrases
-- Avoid These Common Errors
-- Quips You Can Use

Plain Language

In urging you to consider that the best writing is clear and simple, I?ll be pointing out in this section of the newsletter where we go wrong. Consider the language you would use when communicating with your grandmother. Use plain language and expressions that she would understand.

Sometimes we stumble trying to be scholarly, sophisticated, urbane or even cute, and wind up using the word incorrectly anyway. I am titling my new book on language, Come Down to Earth. I have not decided on the subtitle yet, but the main idea that I?ll be pushing in each issue of this newsletter is that we should speak and write using diction (choice of words) that anyone in your audience can understand. That kind of communication can save time, money, and even lives.


Transitional Phrases
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Moving from one idea to another can be done easily with transitional phrases. When you move, you make a transition. When you move from one idea to another, one sentence to another, one paragraph to another, one chapter to another, you are making a transition. Transitional phrases help you make those moves smoothly.

Here are some transitional phrases that you should consider?


1. In advancing a major or minor idea, try a statement of fact, introduced by?
On the face of it; Similarly; Conventional wisdom is that

2. To add to an idea, try?
Equally important; Furthermore; Finally; Moreover

3. To show cause and effect?
Accordingly; In short; Otherwise; Therefore

4. Showing comparison?
Likewise; In a like manner

5. Conceding a point?
Even though; Naturally; Although this may be true; At the same time

6. Showing contrast?
On the other hand; Still; Although true; Even though; On the contrary; Yet; After all

7. Showing time relationships?
Meanwhile; Of late; At that time; Afterward


Avoid These Common Errors
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Very unique
If something is unique, it is one of a kind, without an equal. It is sometimes called an absolute adjective. So it does not take a modifier, as in this publishing CEO?s statement: ?The group of companies involved in bringing this experience to readers is very unique.?

Myself is not a subject.

It is a reflexive pronoun. Like himself, myself, themselves; it?s used for emphasis, and usually as the object of a verb or preposition. It always refers to another noun or pronoun.

Incorrect: John and myself went up the street. Satheesh, Marvin and myself decided to quit.

Correct: He himself had never thought about it. They are asking themselves big questions. He decided to represent himself. She passed herself off as a government employee. I surprised myself tonight.

Impact is not a verb.
Use either Influence or affect as a much more accurate verb. The battle over this word ensues, with some arguing that chair is not a verb either, so what?s the problem? The problem is the usual one: why not use normal plain language?

Incorrect: The turnpike crash will impact the northeast corridor. Activities in that area have impacted the oil prices. Immigration laws will impact prenatal care for some.

Correct: They will study the impact of AIDS on the Asia-Pacific economies. Global warming is having an impact on Texas. The environmental impact of sediment runoff remains to be seen.


Quips You Can Use
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Maureen Dowd, writing in the September 17, 2005 New York Times, reminds us of a statement from Mark Twain: ?When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.?

John Podesta, former chief of staff in the Clinton administration, said this about a White House spokesman: ?[His] credibility isn't just in tatters. It is more like confetti.?

Best wishes,
Barry Beckham



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