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Oxford Guide to Plain English

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how to simplify and clarify your writing

This is a new series from OUP – pocketbook guides on the basics of writing and language skills. They’re small, cheap, cheerful, and compact, yet authoritative – the sort of thing which I imagine would be ideal for students or the average person-in-the-street who wants to take on the first principles of improving their language skills. Oxford Guide to Plain English is written by the research director of the Plain Language Commission.

Plain EnglishIt’s presented in a lively and professional manner, and Martin Cutts uses so many real-life examples you know he’s speaking from deeply-felt practical experience. He offers quick tips for creating a clearer style, better grammar, punctuation, and layout. He explains how to avoid jargon and legalese, and how to use plain English instead. And he has no patience with sloppy communication. For instance, have you ever received an official letter like the example he quotes from the DVLA?

I again return your application for renewal of road fund licence and reiterate the correct amount is £130. I have enclosed a photocopy of your original document you will notice it clearly datestamped 2nd December, some two days after Budget day.

Four mistakes in forty-three words is not bad going for a government [in the UK] which claims it is committed to increased efficiency and clarity of communication!

He shows you how to avoid this sort of thing – and how to replace mistakes with clear meaning. There are hundreds of real examples to show how it’s done, including ‘before’ and ‘after’ examples.

There’s a good list of contemporary cliches and expressions to avoid, including the Plain English expressions which can quite easily replace them.

The basic information is very sound. Sentences twenty words or less; plain words rather than elaborate vocabulary; vigorous and active verbs rather than the passive voice; bulleted lists to explain multiple points of argument; strict but minimalist punctuation; planning as an indispensable tool to good structure; and even avoiding too many grammatical rules.

It even includes advice on writing effective emails, and as an advocate of good spatial design in written communication, I was pleased to see that there was a whole section devoted to good layout.

Good value; good advice; and good format if you want something cheap and cheerful as a start-up or a pocket reference.

© Roy Johnson 2009

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Martin Cutts, Oxford Guide to Plain English, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 3rd edition 2009, pp. 272, ISBN: 0199558507

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Oxford Guide to World English

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modern English language in use throughout the world

English is now effectively a global lingua franca. But even as it enlarges its influence, it is assimilated and changed by the nations where it comes to rest. Tom McArthur’s new Oxford Guide to World Englishis a survey of English both as a pre-eminent world language and as an increasingly divergent language. It is both a compendious work of reference and a very readable series of essays detailing the way in which the language is changing and growing as it spreads from one country to another.

Oxford Guide to World English Each section is structured in a similar manner. First there is a brief historical account of the region’s connection with the English language; then he offers notes and examples of peculiarities in pronunciation, grammar , and vocabulary.

These prefatory remarks are like mini-essays on language history and development. He explains how Old English became modern, how English changed when it reached America, and even how it changed as it moved westwards. He also explains the social and cultural forces which lead to the development of a language.

At the center of his five hundred pages he confronts the issues which will be of interest to the two biggest user groups – the differences between English English and American English. All the basics of ise/ize and colour/color are explained, as well as a detailed history of the expression OK. There is also coverage of the huge variety of immigrant languages which have enriched the American vocabulary.

The range of countries he covers is truly astonishing. They range from whole continents such as Australia and Africa, to tiny islands such as Tuvalu and Tristan da Cunha. He illustrates a range of dialects and languages, including UK dialects, Spanglish, Jamaican Creole, Chicano English, Maor English, and even Chinese English.

Oxford Guide to World English Even though it is based on sound scholarship, and comes with a very useful bibliography and chronology of English language development, the book is accessible for general readers, especially those interested in dialects and the history of world English. It will also be useful for students of A-level English Language in the UK and first-year undergraduates internationally; academics concerned with international English; and advanced foreign learners interested in developing an awareness of the differences in English around the world.

This is a wonderfully comprehensive resource which will appeal to anyone interested in language – and which OUP can justifiably feel proud to have produced.

Oxford Guide to World English   Buy the book at Amazon UK

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© Roy Johnson 2002

Tom McArthur, The Oxford Guide to World English, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, pp.501, ISBN: 0198662483

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Oxford Modern English Grammar

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an anatomy of contemporary English language usage

Oxford Modern English Grammar is the Oxford University Press brand new and definitive guide to English grammar. It’s a book written by a leading expert in the field that covers both British and American English. and it makes use of authentic spoken and written examples. Arranged in four clear parts for ease of use, its comprehensive coverage ranges from the very basic to the most complex aspects of grammar, all of which are explained clearly yet authoritatively. As a source of reference it’s invaluable for those with an interest in the English language, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and it will be useful to anyone else who would like a clear guide to English grammar and how it is used.

Oxford Modern English GrammarThe author Bas Aarts warns that the book is descriptive, not proscriptive in approach.

Readers hoping to find confirmation that the so-called split infinitive is an odious manifestation of the decline of the English language – to give but one example of a common usage shibboleth – will be disappointed.

So – if it doesn’t provide a list of rules of what is and what’s not permissible – what does it have to offer? The answer is – an explanation of the basic principles and structures of English language as it is currently used. Arts begins by clearing the decks to establish the terms in which grammar can be discussed. And this means items as fundamental as what can be said about a single word and how it can be used – which immediately involves issues such as word classes, tense, mood, and the place in a sentence where the word is used.

Next comes the system of inflection which can modify words – which is mercifully (for non-Native learners) minimal in English language, making it easier to learn in its earlier stages at least. He also looks at the way in which new words can be formed or changed – by conversion, back-formation, clipping, and blending (he bagged the goods – recycling – flu – smog).

I was heartened to see that despite his descriptive approach, a firm emphasis was put on the necessity for a subject in a clear English statement, preferably at the start of the sentence or utterance. Statements such as deleted it manually do not begin to make any sense until they are preceded by I, she, or they.

There are entire chapters on tense and mood, which can be quite complex because of the way temporality and mood are constructed in English from strings of verbs – as in examples such as I will have been living here for five years – You might be about to realise that ….

This is a reference work, and just because it doesn’t offer proscriptive rules doesn’t mean that there are no mistakes or unacceptable uses in English. To say the painting was executed brilliant, with also vividly colours is just wrong, and no two ways about it.

There are appendices of irregular verbs (abide/abode/abided – lie/lay/lain) detailed references to sources, and suggestions for further reading on all topics. All the examples he chooses are taken from the database of the International Corpus of English held at University College London – a compilation of spoken and written English taken from living contemporary sources.

It has to be said that the coverage is thorough and rigorous, but very dry. It’s a series of internal principles which have been extracted and documented from contemporary usage. For advice on how to speak and write properly you would have to go elsewhere (such as here for instance). It’s a reference for the college library or the shelf of a linguist or a grammarian – if there are any of those around any more.

Oxford Modern English Grammar   Buy the book at Amazon UK

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© Roy Johnson 2011

Bas Aarts, Oxford Modern English Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, pp.410, ISBN: 0199533199

Oxford Reference Grammar

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up-to-date guide to modern English grammar

This Oxford Reference Grammar guide is based on the most important chapters in Stanley Greenbaum’s authoritative work, The Oxford English Grammar. It is arranged thematically, starting from a description of the history of English language and grammar, then taking the major topics in turn – from words, phrases, and syntax, up to the point at which grammarians customarily stop – the sentence.

Oxford Reference GrammarThe explanations topics are broken up into small, easy-to-follow sections, and there is a full complement of bibliography, glossary, and comprehensive index. There is also a fussily detailed but ultimately useful numerical reference system. These are described as ‘links’ – a clear indication the influence hypertext and its language. It provides guidance on all word classes and word structures, including phrases, clauses, and sentences.

In line with contemporary attitudes to language studies, it takes a descriptive rather than a prescriptive attitude to grammar. That is, it describes how language is being used, rather than how somebody thinks it ought to be used. Each point is illustrated by quotations drawn from authentic spoken and written data. So a typical entry reads:

8.2.2 Adjectives that are predicative only

[17] Caroline is afraid Nellie’s attempts to get her to join in the nude dancing and runs off. [Jennifer Breen In Her Own Write]
[18] I was getting quite fond of him.
[19] Her office personality is a positive one; but she is not aware of this, any more than she is conscious of her breakfast-time vagueness. [W]

Many these predicative adjectives resemble verbs in their meanings: afraid ‘fear’, fond ‘like’, aware that ‘know that’.

It deals with all the standard difficulties in English, such as the issues who/whom, should/ought, that/which, and different from/to. Be warned however. Even though this is in handy paperback format, it’s not for beginners. You have to be prepared for sections labeled ‘Extraposition the postmodifier other than in the subject’, ‘Restrictive and non-restrictive modification’ and ‘Segregatory and combinatory coordination’.

It offers a compilation linguistic definitions and reference in a compact format which will be most useful for teachers language studies, students English language and linguistics, and lay readers who wish to understand some the niceties English grammar. It’s also worth saying that by covering the written and spoken language in both the UK and America, it is intended for English-speakers anywhere in the world.

© Roy Johnson 2000

Oxford Reference Grammar   Buy the book at Amazon UK

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The Oxford Reference Grammar, (ed Edmund Weiner), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp.410, ISBN: 0198600445

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Paradox – how to understand it

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Paradox – definition

paradox Paradox is a figure of speech in which a statement appears to be self-contradictory, but contains something of a truth.

Examples
  • The child is father to the man.
  • Cowards die many times before their death.
Use

redbtn Paradox is used for emphasis or stylistic effect.

redbtn The paradox is closely related to oxymoron — which is sometimes defined as ‘a contracted paradox’.

redbtn That is, the paradox is an apparently contradictory statement; whereas the contradiction in an oxymoron is reduced to just two antithetical terms – as in ‘living dead’ or ‘open secret’.

redbtn Paradox was much-used by the Metaphysical poets of the senteenth century — of whom John Donne is perhaps the best known. The following example is taken from one of his religious sonnets in which he appeals to God to strengthen his beliefs. He packs three paradoxes into these last four lines:

Divorce mee, untie, or breake that knot againe,
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.

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© Roy Johnson 2003

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Paragraphs – how to write them

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Paragraphs – definition

paragraphs Paragraphs are (usually) a group of sentences which deal with one topic.

redbtn The sentences are related to each other to produce an effect of unity.

redbtn The group of sentences form a single unit of meaning.

Examples

redbtn The following example of a paragraph is itself the definition of a paragraph:

The central thought or main controlling idea of a paragraph is usually conveyed in what is called a topic sentence. This crucial sentence which states, summarises or clearly expresses the main theme, is the keystone of a well-built paragraph. The topic sentence may come anywhere in the paragraph, though most logically and in most cases it is the first sentence. This immediately tells readers what is coming, and leaves them in no doubt about the overall controlling idea. In a very long paragraph, the initial topic sentence may even be restated or given a more significant emphasis in its conclusion.

Use

redbtn Paragraphs are used to divide a long piece of writing into separate sections.

redbtn Each of these sections should deal with one issue, or one topic in a sequence.

redbtn Paragraphs are a device to create firm structure in writing.

redbtn They can also be used to give rhythm, variety, and pace to writing.

redbtn NB! If in doubt, keep your paragraphs shorter, rather than longer.

redbtn The recommended structure of a typical paragraph in academic writing is as follows. [It is rather like a mini-version of the structure of a complete essay.]

  • The opening topic sentence
  • A fuller explanation of the topic sentence
  • Supporting sentences which explain its significance
  • The discussion of examples or evidence
  • A concluding or link sentence

redbtn The start of a new paragraph is usually signalled by either a double space between lines, or by indenting the first line of the new paragraph.

redbtn Very short paragraphs are often used in literary writing for stylistic effect.

redbtn One of the most famous examples of this device comes from the Bible [John 11:35].

When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled. And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
Jesus wept.

redbtn The longer the paragraph, the more demands it makes on the reader.

redbtn The length of paragraphs can be varied to give rhythm and ‘pace’ to a piece of writing [rather like variations in sentence-length].

redbtn The last sentence in a paragraph is often used to provide a link to the next.

redbtn The following example [written by E.M.Forster] shows the skilful use of an attention-grabbing first sentence, and a concluding sentence which whets the reader’s appetite to know more about the subject:

John Skelton was an East Anglian: he was a poet, also a clergyman, and he was extremely strange. Partly strange because the age in which he flourished – that of the early Tudors – is remote from us, and difficult to interpret. But he was also a strange creature personally, and whatever you think of him when we’ve finished – and you will possibly think badly of him – you will agree that we have been in contact with someone unusual.

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© Roy Johnson 2003

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Participles – how to understand them

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Participles – definition

participles The term participles refers to the lexical component of the verb or the part which conveys the information or meaning.

redbtn Participles can express the present tense as in swimming or the past as in swam.

Examples

PRESENT PARTICIPLES

jumping thinking being
rowing considering maintaining

PAST PARTICIPLES

ran came went was
thought made helped socialised
Use

redbtn Participles are usually used along with pronouns as verbs, but they are also used as adjectives as in The Killing Fields and The Hanging Gardens.

redbtn Participles can be used also as nouns as in ‘the cleaning’, ‘the washing’, or The Shining [film title].

redbtn NB! Speaking, listening, reading, and writing add up to communicating.

redbtn The term ‘participle’ is a technical grammatical term. It is useful to be able to identify this portion of the verb.

redbtn A verb is usually referred to in its infinitive form, with the prefix ‘to’ — as in:

to learn to be to have
to walk to converse to seem

redbtn An alternative form of reference to a given verb is to express it as a participle:

running walking sitting
wondering scribbling seeming

redbtn The participle has been very adaptable in creating new terms recently. This is particularly true in the USA, where Americans seem to have a more flexible and pragmatic approach to linguistic creativity than the British — who are perhaps inhibited by notions of traditional restraint where language development is concerned.

redbtn The scope of the noun ‘parent’ has been extended to include a verb form, and the participle is the most common form of this. Parenting is now the title of a magazine, and the activity is often referred to as ‘parenting’. However, we do not often hear other forms of the verb used — as in ‘I parented two children’ or ‘I have learnt to parent my child’.

redbtn The phrase ‘the reason being’ contains the participle form of the verb ‘to be’. This phrase seems to have recently become idiomatic. That is, it has become a compound or stock phrase which speakers find useful when expressing cause and effect, especially in speech.

redbtn Often a speaker will use the idiom as in the utterance: ‘The reason being is that I don’t like driving late at night’. In a mechanical sense, the participle ‘being’ has been substituted for ‘is’ in the conventionally grammatical utterance ‘The reason is that I don’t like driving late at night’.

redbtn The result is ungrammatical, but it is quite possible that this deviant form could become Standard English if enough speakers adopted it into their everyday repertoire. [But let’s hope not!]

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© Roy Johnson 2003

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Phonology – how to understand it

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Phonology – definition

phonology Phonology is the study of the sounds in any language.

redbtn The smallest unit of sound is known as a phoneme.

redbtn The phonemic alphabet is a complete set of symbols, each of which represents a single sound belonging to a specific language.

Examples

redbtn Here are some of the phonemic symbols representing sounds in English [received pronunciation]:

/ æ / = the ‘a’ in hat

/ k / = the ‘c’ in cap

Use

redbtn Phonology is a study of how sounds are organised in languages.

redbtn It is the province of linguists who study language varieties and who chart language change and development.

redbtn Phonemic symbols are used in all dictionaries to indicate the received pronunciation of each word.

redbtn Phonology is also used in therapeutic fields such as audiology and speech therapy.

redbtn NB! Phonetics [as distinct from phonology] is the study of how speech sounds are made, transmitted, and received.

redbtn The International Phonetic Alphabet [IPA] is a set of symbols which attempts to represent every unit of sound contained in every known language. [In this context the symbols are known as phonetic symbols.]

redbtn For instance, the words ‘butter’, ‘carriage’, and ‘chocolate’ (spoken in received pronunciation) would be represented as follows:

Butter = phonol-1
Carriage = phonol-2
Chocolate = phonol-3

redbtn The term phonemic symbol is used to refer to a set of sounds representing a specific language such as English, Turkish, Urdu, Icelandic, or any other.

redbtn It is as if there were a box containing all phonetic symbols for all languages, and when we select those which serve our own language we call that selection a set of phonemes.

redbtn A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in any language.

redbtn It is represented in writing by placing a phonetic symbol between slanted lines. This indicates that it is part of a language.

redbtn For instance the simple word ‘pig’ would be represented by
/p/I/g/ because it is composed of three separate sounds.

redbtn Phonemes are the sounds of a language in received pronunciation. Regional varieties of that language may use sounds which differ from the RP version — and the symbols used to represent the dialect version are known as allophones.

redbtn An example of an allophone in English is seen in the vowel sound of words such as ‘bath’, ‘path’ and ‘castle’. The phoneme for the RP version of these sounds would be a: — representing the long open vowel b/a:/ð in ‘bath’.

redbtn The northern dialect version of the same sound in the context of those same words would be an allophone represented as b/æ/ð in ‘bath’.

redbtn Even though the symbol used is a phoneme representing RP, it becomes known as an allophone in the context of regional pronunciation.

redbtn It is important when attempting to grasp the concept of phonology and phonetics, to put to aside all notions of the orthodox spelling system.

redbtn An introduction to phonetics is useful to students of language in understanding the important distinction between speech and writing.

redbtn Phonetics also highlights the differences between spelling and pronunciation. When we learn to read [that is, to understand writing] we are learning a code. This is related to the spoken language in a crucially significant way, but in its nature and function it is distinct and discrete.

redbtn Phonology in context. The pronunciation system in English is extremely varied, and this variety springs from context.

redbtn The geographical context or the social context can be seen to determine the speech style of both individuals and of groups of speakers.

redbtn On a smaller scale, certain words themselves are context-specific in terms of pronunciation.

redbtn For example, ‘hand’ is pronounced roughly as it is spelt if it is spoken in isolation as a single word. However, in ‘handbag’ it is pronounced ‘ham’ or ‘han’.

redbtn The reason for this is ease of articulation. Clusters of consonants [three in succession in ‘handbag’] are difficult to pronounce.

redbtn If ‘hand’ is spoken after the adjective ‘left’ in ‘lefthand’, the initial aspirant [h] of ‘hand’ is to varying degrees eliminated to produce the sequence ‘left’and’.

redbtn Similarly, if the word ‘crisp’ is spoken in isolation, it is pronounced as written. If the plural ‘s’ is added however, the ‘p’ almost disappears to produce the sequence ‘criss’.

redbtn The definite article itself is subject to phonological variation which is determined by its context. That is, if it precedes a vowel sound as in ‘the other’ ‘the’ is pronounced ‘thee’. If it precedes a consonant, or is articulated in isolation, it is pronounced ‘the’, with the narrower vowel sound.

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© Roy Johnson 2003

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Phrases – how to understand them

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Phrases – definition

phrases Phrases are part of a sentence which does not contain a finite verb.

redbtn [This feature distinguishes a phrase from a clause, which does have a finite verb.]

redbtn It is a group of words which acts as a noun, adjective, or an adverb.

Examples
up the street my father’s dog
to hunt the killer the house with big windows
strawberries and cream having a wonderful time
Use

redbtn Phrases are sequences of meaning and are used in both speech and writing.

redbtn A grammatically complete sentence requires a finite verb. However, in some contexts phrases can convey as much meaning as is required.

redbtn In these cases the verb may not be expressed but will be implied by the speaker and understood by the listener.

redbtn In writing, the phrase would only be punctuated as a sentence in special cases and for special effects.

redbtn NB! Remember – a phrase does not contain a finite verb, but a clause does.

redbtn The term ‘phrase’ is used generally to suggest a saying or a brief statement.

redbtn The most interesting thing regarding phrases is that when uttered in isolation they have a verb which is understood or implied.

redbtn If we say to a child ‘Up those stairs!’ it usually means something like, ‘It’s time you went up those stairs to bed’. In the more complete utterance ‘you went’ is a finite verb.

redbtn Similarly, the question ‘Where are the glasses?’ may be answered by ‘Inside the cabinet’. The semantic implication is ‘The glasses are inside the cabinet’ in which ‘are’ is the finite verb whose subject is ‘the glasses’.

redbtn Many proverbs are expressed as phrases but with the finite verb understood.

redbtn For instance ‘More haste less speed’, suggests that, ‘more haste results in less speed’. However, this addition of the finite verb ‘results’ makes the saying less succinct and epigrammatic.

redbtn A very unscientific but efficient way to test whether an utterance is a sentence or a phrase is to imagine addressing a stranger with the statement. The response to a phrase would be ‘What on earth are you talking about?’

redbtn For example, imagine making any of the following statements to someone. They would not know what you meant.

‘The green book’
‘A lovely surprise’
‘Over there’

redbtn On the other hand, even a stranger would make some sense of the following sentences:

‘That’s the green book I left in the park.’
‘The bus stops over there.’
‘I have a lovely surprise for you.’

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© Roy Johnson 2003

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Prepositions – how to understand them

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Prepositions – definition

prepositions Prepositions express a relationship between nouns (or pronouns) and some other part of the sentence.

redbtn It usually tells us where something is.

Examples
with out in
under over around
Use

redbtn A preposition is used with a noun or pronoun.

The child ran around the snowman.

Jack and Jill went up the hill.

redbtn However, the same words are adverbs in the following statements:

Let’s take a walk around.

My lucky number came up.

He came over to me.

redbtn They are adverbs because they tell us about the verb.

redbtn NB! Prepositions often tell us about position, so don’t underestimate them.

redbtn Prepositions are mainly used in English to form adverbial and adjectival phrases, as in the following:

Adverbial phrases

‘Marseilles is in France’
[‘in France’ tells us where Marseilles is]

‘Hastings stands on the south coast of England’
[‘on the south coast of England’ tells us where Hastings stands]

‘The grocer marvelled at the arrival of the boxes’
[‘at the arrival’ tells us when the grocer marvelled]

‘She left the hall with a toss of her head’
[‘with a toss of her head’ tells us the manner in which she left]

redbtn All the prepositions above are used adverbially to tell us more about the verb in each case.

redbtn The following are examples of adjectival phrases. In each case the preposition describes a noun:

Adjectival phrases

‘The first cable across the Atlantic was laid in 1838′
[‘across the Atlantic’ describes the cable]

‘I love the sound of the sea’
[‘of the sea’ describes the sound]

‘I believe that the man in the moon exists’
[‘in the moon’ describes the man]

‘We all enjoyed the cheese on toast that our mother gave us’
[‘on toast’ describes the cheese]

redbtn Prepositions are usually used, as in the two sets of examples above, with a noun or a pronoun.

redbtn Examples of nouns from the sentences given above are ‘the arrival’, ‘a toss’, ‘ the moon’ and ‘toast’.

redbtn Prepositions can also be used as adverbs without an accompanying noun or pronoun.

Come in Turn round Go up
Jump off Look around Go under

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© Roy Johnson 2003

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