Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (16): OECD’s Principles of Style

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was officially born on September 30, 1961. It has 34 member-countries that account for 80% of world trade and investment. These member-countries include Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United States, and the United Kingdom. More than 20 member-countries have plain language policy on law drafting.  

Some “drafting tips and principles of stye” from the OECD Style Guide (3rd Edition) are:

• Use basic, simple sentence structures.
• Choose the simplest tenses.
• Don’t bury long dependent clauses in mid-sentence.
• Avoid using a long word when a shorter word will do.
• Avoid using foreign words and expressions unless there is no English alternative. If foreign words or expressions are unavoidable, ensure that they are in italics.
• Think twice before using empty and overused adjectives.
• If necessary, remove weak intensifiers and qualifiers.
• Ban redundancy which often comes in the form of an adjective that unnecessarily repeats the meaning of a noun or a verb.
• Put statements in positive form.
• Write with verbs.
• Reduce prepositional phrases (on, of, in, for, with).
• Prefer the active voice.
• Beware of vague, empty words that clog beginnings.
• Place emphatic words at the end of the sentence.
• Avoid over-elaborate introductions.
• Eliminate fluff and false starts such as I think, there was, it is.
• Use the simplest, most specific language your subject allows. The more specific your words, the more likely you are to hold the reader’s attention.

Exercise: The text below comes from the OECD Style Guide. What principles were used in revising the original sentence?

Original text	Revised text
It is the widespread opinion of delegates that the report is of a rather general nature and does not succeed in addressing the issue, which is currently of such significance, of reforming pensions. Furthermore, there is complete agreement among delegates on the fact that no new data on unemployment across countries are presented in the report.	Delegates believe that the report is too general and fails to discuss the important issue of pension reform. They also agree that it does not present any new data on unemployment in OECD countries.

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (15): Use gender-free language

“The US Supreme Court and Gender-Neutral Language: Splitting La Difference” by Judith D. Fischer, University of Louisville - Louis D. Brandeis School of Law) 2012

Traditional writing uses masculine pronouns like “he” or “his” to refer to both men and women. “Gender-neutral” language, on the other hand, uses “he or she,” “his or her,” “he/she,” “his/her,” or the “singular they.”

A. The British Columbia Securities Commission advocates “gender-free” language (Plain Language Style Guide, 2008). The BCSC explains that the occasional use of “he or she” and other gender-neutral terms may be non-intrusive, but their repetitive use distracts and annoys readers. For example:

Traditional use of masculine pronoun:	Gender-neutral language:	Gender-free language:
The borrower who is not prompt in making the payments due under his mortgage risks losing his home through a foreclosure procedure.	The borrower who is not prompt in making the payments due under his or her mortgage risks losing his or her home through a foreclosure procedure.	Borrowers who are not prompt in making the payments due under their mortgages risk losing their homes through foreclosure procedures.

B. Richard Lauchman, in his free PDF (A Handbook for Writers in the U.S. Federal Government), provides six ways to cut “his,” “his/her,” “his/hers,” “his or her,” “s/he”:

1. Cut “his/her,” “his or her” from the sentence, if possible.

Every writer must use his/her good judgment.

Every writer must use good judgment.

2. Use “you.”

Each researcher must bring his/her driver's license or other photo identification.

You must bring your driver's license or other photo identification.

3. Make the first term plural, and then use “their.”

Each researcher must bring his/her driver's license or other photo identification.

All researchers must bring their driver's license or other photo identification.

4. Use an article (“a,” “an,” or “the”).

Each researcher must bring his/her driver’s license or other photo identification.

Each researcher must bring a driver’s license or other photo identification.

5. Write a passive construction.

Each researcher must bring his/her driver’s license or other photo identification.

A driver’s license or other photo identification is required.

6. In a lengthy document, you can use “he“ and “she“ interchangeably.

C. UN Guidelines for gender-inclusive language in English (with self-paced exercise in PDF format)

1. Use non-discriminatory language

1.1 Forms of address
1.2 Avoid gender-biased expressions or expressions that reinforce gender stereotypes

2. Make gender visible when it is relevant for communication

2.1 Using feminine and masculine pronouns
2.2 Using two different words

3. Do not make gender visible when it is not relevant for communication

3.1 Use gender-neutral words
3.2 Using plural pronouns/adjectives
3.3 Use the pronoun one
3.4 Use the relative pronoun who
3.5 Use a plural antecedent
3.6 Omit the gendered word
3.7 Use the passive voice

D. “Avoiding Sexism in Legal Writing — The Pronoun Problem” by Matthew Salzwedel

Garner says that legal writers can simply avoid the pronoun problem by:

Deleting the pronoun. For example, instead of writing “No one can be elected to be a judge after he has reached the age of 65,” a writer can say “No one can be elected to be a judge after the age of 65.”

Changing the pronoun to an article like a(n) or the. For example, instead of writing “The attorney must file his brief by the deadline,” a writer can say “The attorney must file the brief by the deadline.”

Pluralizing the sentence so that he becomes they.

E. Youtube videos

Gender Neutral Language (Singular They)



Singular They



F. Exercise: The text below comes from the Civil Service Commission website. (1) Locate the five gender-neutral terms. (2) Revise the sentences by using gender-free language.

1. CSE-PPT

Results of the CSE-PPT are usually released from three to four months after the examination. The names of passed examinees shall be posted at the CSC website www.csc.gov.ph.      

Those who passed the examination must personally claim their Certificates of Eligibility at the CSC Regional Office/Field Office upon presentation of required documents. On the other hand, those who failed the examination may secure a copy of their Report of Rating through the CSC website. No Report of Rating shall be mailed to those who failed. To secure a copy of the Report of Rating, an examinee must key in his/her name, date of birth, examinee number, examination date, and examination type. Thus, examinees are advised to safe keep or remember their examinee number until receipt of the examination result.

2. CSE-CAT

Results of the CSE-CAT are usually released within two to three hours after the examination. Examinees are strongly advised to wait for the examination results. Those who passed shall receive their Certificate of Eligibility, while those who failed shall receive their Report of Rating. Should an examinee fail to claim/receive his/her examination result on the examination day, he/she has to personally return at a later date to claim either his/her Certificate of Eligibility or Report of Rating.

The names of passed CSE-CAT examinees shall be posted at the CSC website.

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (14): Asian Development Bank’s Clear Writing guidelines

1. “Clear Writing” from the ADB Handbook of Style and Usage (2017 edition, pages x to xix)

2. In “Using Plain English” (Knowledge Solutions, October 2008), ADB’s Olivier Serrat urges writers to:

Select simple words.
Make lists.
Keep sentences short.
Refrain from giving unnecessary details.
Cut down on jargon and use defined terms sparingly.
Discard superfluous words.
Reduce nominalizations.
Avoid weak verbs.
Use the active voice with strong verbs.
Be specific rather than general.
Write personally, as if you were talking to the reader.

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 3. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (13): Use simple, clear sentence structures

1. “Guidelines for Drafting and Editing Court Rules” by Bryan A. Garner (used in the Plain Language-restyling of the 1998 US Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure)

Avoid interruptive phrases between the subject and the verb by moving them to the beginning or end of the sentence.

Enumerate at the end – not at the beginning – of a sentence.

2. From Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Style Guide 2nd Edition

Use basic, simple sentence structures

Choose the simplest tenses

Don’t bury long dependent clauses in mid-sentence

3. Five principles of readability, from OWL Purdue (listed below are three principles that are similar to guidelines by Garner and OECD)

Principle One: Sentences that have a subject-verb-object order are more readable than those that don’t.

Principle Two: When possible, put the agent (subject) and action (verb) close together in the sentence.

Principle Three: Keep modifiers and the words they modify close together in the sentence.

4. Free resources from the Michigan Bar Journal:

Down with Provided That (by Prof. Joseph Kimble, president, Thomas Cooley College of Law, Michigan, USA; Burton Awards for “Reform in Law” Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (2007) and Federal Rules of Evidence (2011)

The 20 Most Common Sentence-Level Faults Among Legal Writers (by Bryan A. Garner)

Clearing Up Ambiguity from a Series Modifier

Ambiguous Drafting and the 12-Pound Cat

5. Videos

English Sentence Structure - English Grammar Lesson



Grammar Lesson #1 - Tips to Improve Your Sentence Structure



Word Order / Sentence Structure - English Grammar Lesson (Part 1)

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (12): Use the active voice, minimize the passive

1. Passive voice is one of the biggest problems with government documents.  (From US National Archives and Records Administration Style Guide)

Active voice is the best way to identify who is responsible for what action.

In an active sentence, the person or organization that’s acting is the subject of the sentence. In a passive sentence, the person or item that is acted upon is the subject of the sentence. Passive voice obscures who is responsible for what and is one of the biggest problems with government documents.

2. A sentence is in the active voice if the subject performs the action expressed in the verb. For example:

The dog bit the boy. (Active voice)

The boy was bitten by the dog. (Passive voice)

3. Some US cases that were decided against parties that used the passive voice (from Mark Cooney, Michigan Bar Journal, June 2005)

Coroles v Sabey, 79 P3d 974, 981 (Utah App 2003)

Castro v Hastings, 74 Fed. Appx. 607, 609 (CA 7, 2003)

Zito v Leasecomm Corp, No. 02 Civ. 8074 (GEL), 2003 WL 22251352, at *10 (SD NY Sept 30, 2003)

In re MJB, 140 SW3d 643, 656 (Tenn App 2004)

United States v Wilson, 503 US 329, 334–35 (1992)

DaimlerChrysler Serv No Amer, LLC v State Tax Assessor, 817 A2d 862, 865 (Me 2003)

Arlington Educ Ass’n v Arlington School Dist No. 3, 34 P3d 1197, 1200 (Or App 2001)

4. Recent US cases that involved the issue of passive voice:

Pendergest-Holt et al v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyds of London, No. 10-200069 (5th Cir. March 15, 2010)

Sherley v. Sebelius No. 10-5287, slip op. at 2 (D.C. Cir. Apr. 29, 2011)

5. Reasons to use the active voice (articles from the Michigan Bar Journal):

Stay Active! (Part 1)
 
Stay Active! (Part 2)

6. Exercise: Locate the passive voice verbs in this example from the Civil Service Commission website. (Answer at the bottom of this page)

Historical Highlights

The civil service system in the Philippines was formally established under Public Law No. 5 ("An Act for the Establishment and Maintenance of Our Efficient and Honest Civil Service in the Philippine Island") in 1900 by the Second Philippine Commission. A Civil Service Board was created composed of a Chairman, a Secretary and a Chief Examiner. The Board administered civil service examinations and set standards for appointment in government service. It was reorganized into a Bureau in 1905.

The 1935 Philippine Constitution firmly established the merit system as the basis for employment in government. The following years also witnessed the expansion of the Bureau’s jurisdiction to include the three branches of government: the national government, local government and government corporations.

In 1959, Republic Act 2260, otherwise known as the Civil Service Law, was enacted. This was the first integral law on the Philippine bureaucracy, superseding the scattered administrative orders relative to government personnel administration issued since 1900. This Act converted the Bureau of Civil Service into the Civil Service Commission with department status.

In 1975, Presidential Decree No. 807 (The Civil Service Decree of the Philippines) redefined the role of the Commission as the central personnel agency of government. Its present mandate is derived from Article IX-B of the 1987 Constitution which was given effect through Book V of Executive Order No. 292 (The 1987 Administrative Code). The Code essentially reiterates existing principles and policies in the administration of the bureaucracy and recognizes, for the first time, the right of government employees to self-organization and collective negotiations under the framework of the 1987 Constitution.

7. Videos on active and passive voice

Active versus Passive Voice



Active and Passive Voice



Grammar Series - Active Voice vs Passive Voice



How to Eliminate Passive Voice From Your Writing



8. Answers to the exercise (passive voice shown in boldface):

Historical Highlights

The civil service system in the Philippines was formally established under Public Law No. 5 ("An Act for the Establishment and Maintenance of Our Efficient and Honest Civil Service in the Philippine Island") in 1900 by the Second Philippine Commission. A Civil Service Board was created composed of a Chairman, a Secretary and a Chief Examiner. The Board administered civil service examinations and set standards for appointment in government service. It was reorganized into a Bureau in 1905.

The 1935 Philippine Constitution firmly established the merit system as the basis for employment in government. The following years also witnessed the expansion of the Bureau’s jurisdiction to include the three branches of government: the national government, local government and government corporations.

In 1959, Republic Act 2260, otherwise known as the Civil Service Law, was enacted. This was the first integral law on the Philippine bureaucracy, superseding the scattered administrative orders relative to government personnel administration issued since 1900. This Act converted the Bureau of Civil Service into the Civil Service Commission with department status.

In 1975, Presidential Decree No. 807 (The Civil Service Decree of the Philippines) redefined the role of the Commission as the central personnel agency of government. Its present mandate is derived from Article IX-B of the 1987 Constitution which was given effect through Book V of Executive Order No. 292 (The 1987 Administrative Code). The Code essentially reiterates existing principles and policies in the administration of the bureaucracy and recognizes, for the first time, the right of government employees to self-organization and collective negotiations under the framework of the 1987 Constitution. 

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 2.“Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (11): Revising wordy sentences using the Paramedic Method

1. Prof. Richard Lanham of the UCLA Writing Center developed the Paramedic Method for revising wordy sentences. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Underline the prepositional phrases in the sentence.

Step 2: Circle the “to be” verbs (is, are, as, were)

Step 3: Place a box around nominalizations and identify the primary action.

Step 4: Write the nominalization/primary action into a single verb.

Step 5: Ask “Who what performs the action?” Then write the new base clause with the agent in the subject position.

Step 6: Keep the base clause near beginning of the sentence.

Step 7: Eliminate unnecessary words and phrases.

2. Videos

Write Well: Editing Sentences Using the Paramedic Method (Macalester College)



Help from Dr. Lanham



Richard Lanham - Revising Prose



Paramedic Method



Self-Editing (Paramedic Method)



The Paramedic Method

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (10): How to write clear, concise, and direct sentences

1. “Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.” — “Elements of Style” by Strunk and White

2. “Short sentences are not an end by themselves. As legal writers, your goals are short and clear sentences.” As Napoleon Bonaparte emphasized to his runners who brought messages to his battlefield commanders, “Make it clear! Make it clear! Make it clear!”

3. “Techniques in creating clear, concise, and direct sentences” (The Writing Center, University Wisconsin – Madison):

• Unless you have a reason not to, use the active voice. Put the action of the sentence in the verb. 
• Reduce wordy verbs.
• Use expletive constructions (“It is,” “There is,” “There are”) sparingly. 
• Try to avoid using vague, all-purpose nouns, which often lead to wordiness. 
• Unless your readers are familiar with your terminology, avoid writing strings of nouns. 
• Eliminate unnecessary prepositional phrases.
• Avoid unnecessarily inflated words. 
• Put wordy phrases on a diet.

4. “Writing Concise Sentences” (from The Guide to Grammar and Writing, sponsored by the Capital Community College Foundation in Hartford, Connecticut)

• Pruning the Redundant
• Abbreviated Redundancies
• Reducing Clauses to Phrases, Phrases to Single Words
• Intensifiers that Don't Intensify
• Avoiding Expletive Constructions
• Phrases You Can Omit
• Eliminating Clichés and Euphemisms
• Writing Concise Sentences (exercises)
• Eliminating Wordiness (exercises)
• Rewriting Bloated Sentences (exercises)

5. “Identifying and addressing wordiness in sentences” (from The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

• Eliminate redundant pairs
• Delete unnecessary qualifiers
• Identify and reduce prepositional phrases
• Locate and delete unnecessary modifiers
• Replace a phrase with a word
• Identify negatives and change them to affirmatives

6. “How to Sculpt Concise Sentences (So Your Message Becomes Clear and Strong)”

7. Writing Concise Sentences



8. Lesson 16: Wordy Sentences



9. Keep it Simple: Clearer, Concise Sentences

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (09): Use short sentences

Recommended average number of words per sentence in legal documents: 15 words (Federal Register Document Drafting Handbook, October 1998 Revision, page 216) Between 15 and 18 (“Plain English: Eschew Legalese” by Judge Gerald Lebovits, New York State Bar Association Journal, November/December 2008, page 60) 18 words (“Appellate Practice—Including Legal Writing From A Judge’s Perspective”, page 7, by Judge Mark P. Painter, the only American so far to be appointed to the UN Appellate Tribunal) 20 words or fewer (US Federal Aviation Administration “Writing Standards, Order 1000.36”) 20 words (“Legal Writing in Plain English” by Bryan A. Garner) 20 words (“How to write clearly” from European Commission) 20 to 25 words (“How to create clear announcements” Project on the Use of Plain Language, by Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission”) 20 to 25 words (“Tips for Better Writing in Law Reviews and Other Journals” by Joseph Kimble, Michigan Bar Journal, October 2012) 22 words (“Just Writing: Grammar, Punctuation, and Style for the Legal Writer” by Anne Enquist and Laurel Currie Oates) 25 words (“Mightier Than the Sword: Powerful Writing in the Legal Profession” by C. Edward Good)

(Jump to “The modern English sentence is short, averaging below 20 words per sentence”)

1. “After 14 years as a legal adviser to the Government, I had got into the habit of writing concisely and going straight to the point. I think I might have lost the knack to express myself in a literary style. Government minutes are written in plain English. Now, I try to use short sentences to capture all my ideas and arguments.” (Singapore Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong)

2. “Legal sentences tend to be long and flabby.” (Prof. Joseph Kimble, president, Thomas Cooley Law School, Michigan, USA; drafting consultant, Plain Language-restyling of the US Federal Rules of Court)

3. “The genius is having a ten-dollar idea in a five-cent sentence, not having a five-cent idea in a ten-dollar sentence.” (US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in an interview with Bryan A. Garner, Scribes Journal of Legal Writing Volume 13)

4. “The more complicated your information is, the shorter your sentences should be.” (from “Writing to Win: The Legal Writer: The Complete Guide to Writing Strategies That Will Make Your Case—And Win It” by Steven D. Stark)

5. “Seeking to be precise, we become redundant. Seeking to be cautious, we become verbose. Our sentences twist on, phrase within clause, within clause, glazing the eyes and numbing the minds our readers. The result is a writing style that is wordy, unclear, pompous, and dull.” (“Plain English for Lawyers” by Richard Wydick, Professor Emeritus in Legal Writing at University of California - Davis; the National University of Singapore uses this book for its Legal Writing Programme.)

6. “Short sentences are a supreme advantage when communicating with people from a non-English speaking background. If you want your English to be understood worldwide—write short sentences. If you want to avoid embarrassing grammar mistakes and excruciating international misunderstandings—use short sentences. If you want your international clients to read your documents easily, confidently and accurately—use short sentences.” (“Global English for Global Business,” page 38, by Rachel McAlpine)

7. Examples of long sentences:

BSP Circular No. 702, protection of credit card holders from unfair collection practices (235 words in one sentence)

Banks/quasi-banks and their subsidiary or affiliate credit card companies shall also provide the following information to their cardholders:

1. A table of the applicable fees, penalties and interest rates on credit card transactions, including the period covered by and the manner of and reason for the imposition of such penalties, fees and interest; fees and applicable conversion reference rates for third currency transactions, in plain sight and language, on materials for marketing credit cards, such as brochures, flyers, primers and advertising materials, on credit card application forms, and on credit card billing statements: Provided, That these disclosures are in addition to the full disclosure of the fees, charges and interest rates in the terms and conditions of the credit card agreement found elsewhere on the application form and billing statement; and

2. A reminder to the card holder in the monthly billing statement, or its equivalent document, that payment of only the minimum amount due or any amount less than the total amount due for the billing cycle/period, would mean the imposition of interest and/or other charges; Provided, That such table of fees, penalties and interest rates and reminder shall be printed in plain language and in bold black letters against a light or white background, and using the minimum Arial 12 theme font and size, or its equivalent in readability, and on the first page, if the applicable document has more than one page. 

Senate impeachment rules (106 words in one sentence)

VI. The President of the Senate or the Chief Justice when presiding on the trial may rule on all questions of evidence including, but not limited to, questions of materiality, relevancy, competency or admissibility of evidence and incidental questions, which ruling shall stand as the judgment of the Senate, unless a Member of the Senate shall ask that a formal vote be taken thereon, in which case it shall be submitted to the Senate for decision after one contrary view is expressed; or the Presiding Officer may at his/her option, in the first instance, submit any such question to a vote of the Members of the Senate.

8. The modern English sentence is short, averaging below 20 words per sentence.

A. From “The Principles of readability” by William DuBay:

In 1880, a professor of English Literature at the University of Nebraska, Lucius Adelno Sherman, began to teach literature from a historical and statistical point of view.

He compared the older prose writers with more popular modern writers such as Macaulay (The History of England) and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He noticed a progressive shortening of sentences over time.

He decided to look at this statistically and began by counting average sentence length per 100 periods. In his book (1893), Analytics of Literature, A Manual for the Objective Study of English Prose and Poetry, he showed how sentence length averages shortened over time:

Pre-Elizabethan times: 50 words per sentence
Elizabethan times: 45 words per sentence
Victorian times: 29 words per sentence
Sherman’s time: 23 words per sentence.

In our time, the average is down to 20 words per sentence.

B. Ellegard Norm: The modern English sentence has an average of 17.6 words per sentence. (From 1978 study by Swedish researcher Alvar Ellegard of 1 million words corpus of 20th century American English writing called the Brown Corpus collected by Brown University in 1964)

C. “What is Happening to Written English?”

Essentially, the sentence has become shorter – quite dramatically. In a study by Brock Haussamen (1994) using text from a variety of sources, the average sentence length was shown to have reduced from 40-70 in the period 1600-1700 to the low 20s in the 1990s.

Year 1600 - 1700: Sentence length 40 - 70 words
Year 1800 - 1900: Sentence length 30 - 40 words
Year 1990s: Sentence length 20s

D. Comparison of average sentence length of several writers

Jane Austen: 42
John Steinbeck: 18.4
D. H. Lawrence: 13.5

E.  “Editing Tip: Sentence Length”

" ... the average sentence length for Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who can be considered representative of a modern English writer with a general audience, is 12 words ..."

F.  “The long sentence: A disservice to science in the Internet age”

If we want the fullness of science in necessarily long papers to be appreciated, it must increasingly be written in short sentences.

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (08): Keep your text concise

1. Thomas Jefferson: “The most valuable of talents is never using two words when one will do.”

2. George Orwell: “Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.”

3. “Write clearly and simply if you can, and you’ll be more likely to be thought of as intelligent.”

Prof. Daniel M. Oppenheimer of Princeton University published his study titled “Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity” in the 2006 Applied Cognitive Psychology Journal. Actually, the title (as I quoted it) is incomplete; Prof. Oppenheimer was having fun because the other half of his study’s title is “Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly.”

Oppenheimer surveyed 110 Stanford University students. Among other things, he asked them the following questions:

“Have you ever changed the words in an academic essay to make the essay sound more valid or intelligent by using complicated language?” 86.4% said yes.

“When you write an essay, do you turn to the thesaurus to choose words that are more complex to give the impression that the content is more valid or intelligent?” 75% said yes.

Among Oppenheimer’s findings are:

• People are more likely to use big words when they are feeling the most insecure.
• Leaders facing crucial decisions might use more complex vocabulary and end up undermining others’ confidence in their leadership ability.
• Write clearly and simply if you can, and you’ll be more likely to be thought of as intelligent.

4. “Conciseness” or “concision” ordinarily means being brief but technically, it means being direct to the point. Your goal as a legal writer is to be concise and clear. Some ways to keep your text concise and clear are:

• Use short, simple words (for example, use “needs” instead of “necessitates”)
• Avoid big words and pompous diction (use “because” instead of “due to the fact that”)
• Omit redundant words (use “”facts” instead of “actual facts”)
• Avoid redundant pairs
• Avoid redundant modifiers
• Avoid modifiers such as absolutely, actually, completely, really, quite, totally, and very
• Avoid doublets and triplets (use either word instead of “authorize and empower”)
• Watch out for “of,” “to,” “on,’ and other prepositions
• Avoid noun strings
• Avoid legal, foreign, and technical jargon
• Avoid hidden verbs or nominalization (say “I decided” instead of “I made a decision”)

5. Free resources:

“Plain English Lexicon” by Plain Language Commission

“The A to Z of alternative words” from Plain English Campaign

6. Being Concise in Your Writing (University of Glasgow)



7. Writing Clearly and Concisely (North Carolina State University)



8. Succinct Writing (University of British Columbia)



9. English Writing Workshop - Clear and Concise Sentences



10. Keep it Simple: Clearer, Concise Sentences



11. Make Your Writing Concise



12. Nine Ways to Use Clear, Simple Vocabulary to Sound More Professional in English

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (07): Legal writing and oral advocacy

Video interviews of US Supreme Court
justices available in LawProse website

Bryan A. Garner is the editor-in-chief of all current editions of Black’s Law Dictionary. In 2010, he interviewed the US Supreme Court Justices. The transcripts of these interviews are available from Scribes Journal of Legal Writing Volume 13; excerpts from the interviews are posted below.

Justice Clarence Thomas:

I’d love one day for someone at a gas station who is not a lawyer to come up to me and say to me, “You know, I read your opinion, and I don’t agree with you.” Wouldn’t that be wonderful? “I’m not a lawyer, I read your opinion, I understood it, I don’t agree with you, but thanks for making it accessible.” So we talk of it in terms of accessibility.

Justice Stephen Breyer (in reply to Garner’s question, “Do you think it matters whether ordinary people can understand judicial opinions?”):

If an ordinary person who is not a lawyer can understand it, I think that gives weight to what the Court does, and law is supposed to be intelligible. They should be able to follow it without having to take special vocabulary courses. And the purpose of an opinion is to give your reasons, and you give your reasons both for guidance, but also it should be possible for readers to criticize the writer. Now, people can’t criticize what I say, they can’t explain why they think it’s wrong, unless they can understand.

Chief Justice John Roberts on the topic of legal writing (interview by Garner)



A Crash Course in Legal Writing by Bryan A. Garner



Quick Tips on Oral Advocacy by Judge Richard Gabriel



How to Speak like a Veteran Lawyer in 11 minutes



2008 Davis Moot Court Winning Oral Argument



How to speak so that people want to listen | Julian Treasure

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (05): Avoid legalese

1. Webinar: “Drafting in Plain Language - Leaving Legalese Behind” (National Conference of State Legislatures)



2. Lawyers, Stop Writing (and Saying) These Things Immediately by Brendan Kenny

Lawyers persist in using clumsy language even when it makes us less persuasive to our intended audience. Maybe that is because we believe or fear that words mean things when they really don’t. This may be a superstition, but it is a superstition that all the arguments in the world in favor of plain language will not overcome.

3. Will Rogers, famous American comedian, on the way lawyers write:

The minute you read something and you can’t understand it, you can almost be sure that it was drawn up by a lawyer.

Then if you give it to another lawyer to read and he doesn’t know just what it means, why then you can be sure it was drawn up by a lawyer.

If it’s in a few words and is plain and understandable only one way, it was written by a non-lawyer.

Some of you may be offended by what Rogers said and say that he was just a comedian having fun at the expense of lawyers. But did you know that you can find Rogers’ statue inside the building of the US Congress?

4. “The Decline and Fall of Gobbledygook: Report on Plain Language Documentation” (1990) by the Canadian Bar Association and Canadian Bankers Association Joint Committee Report:

“Legalese is a style of writing used by lawyers that is incomprehensible to ordinary readers.”

5. “Plain English for Lawyers” by Richard Wydick (Professor Emeritus of Law at the University of California - Davis; he has also lectured at the International Legislative Drafting Institute presented in New Orleans by the Public Law Center, a joint venture of Tulane and Loyola law schools):

We lawyers cannot write plain English. We use eight words to say what could be said in two. We use old, arcane phrases to express commonplace ideas.

Seeking to be precise, we become redundant. Seeking to be cautious, we become verbose. Our sentences twist on, phrase within clause, within clause, glazing the eyes and numbing the minds our readers. The result is a writing style that is wordy, unclear, pompous, and dull.

6. Elements of legalese, by Prof. David Mellinkoff from his book “Legal Writing: Sense and Nonsense” (1982):

• Formalisms, such as comes now
• Archaic words, such as hereby
• Redundancies, such as each and every
• Latin words, such as per curiam

7. “Lifting the Fog of Legalese,” by Prof. Joseph Kimble, president, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Michigan, USA; Burton Awards for “Reform in Law” Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (2007) and Federal Rules of Evidence (2011):

Legal sentences tend to be long and flabby.

More generally, legal writing tends to be poorly organized and poorly formatted. And in its effort to be precise and exhaustive, it becomes excessively detailed and too often sinks into redundancy, ambiguity, and error.

The result is legalese — a form of prose so jumbled, dense, verbose, and overloaded that it confuses and frustrates most everyday readers and even many lawyers.

8. “Legalese violates nearly every principle of good writing” by Mark S. Mathewson, Director of Legal Publishing for the Illinois State Bar Association (Michigan Bar Journal January 2003)

9. “Plain English: Eschew Legalese” by Judge Gerald Lebovits (faculty member of Columbia University - Law School, Fordham University School of Law, and New York University School of Law)

10. US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on accessibility (from Bryan Garner’s interviews, Scribes Journal of Legal Writing Volume 13):

I’d love one day for someone at a gas station who is not a lawyer to come up to me and say to me, “You know, I read your opinion, and I don’t agree with you.” Wouldn’t that be wonderful? “I’m not a lawyer, I read your opinion, I understood it, I don’t agree with you, but thanks for making it accessible.” So we talk of it in terms of accessibility.

11. Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, third Chief Justice of the Republic of Singapore:

I noticed one difference in myself from having been Attorney-General for 14 years. I am not able to write and express myself in the same way as I did 15 years ago. I read one of the judgments I wrote 15 years ago and thought I couldn’t write in that way today. After 14 years as a legal adviser to the Government, I had got into the habit of writing concisely and going straight to the point. I think I might have lost the knack to express myself in a literary style. Government minutes are written in plain English. Now, I try to use short sentences to capture all my ideas and arguments. I can’t go back to my old style, and I am not sure that going back to it is right. I think that Court of Appeal judgments should be expressed in language that a reasonably-educated layman can understand.

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (04): Warren Buffett’s advice on good writing

Warren Buffett is an American investor, industrialist, and philanthropist. He was ranked as the world’s richest person in 2008 and as the third richest in 2011. In the preface to the US SEC Plain English Handbook (1988), Buffett wrote:

For more than forty years, I’ve studied the documents that public companies file. Too often, I’ve been unable to decipher just what is being said or, worse yet, had to conclude that nothing was being said. If corporate lawyers and their clients follow the advice in this handbook, my life is going to become much easier.

There are several possible explanations as to why I and others sometimes stumble over an accounting note or indenture description. Maybe we simply don’t have the technical knowledge to grasp what the writer wishes to convey. Or perhaps the writer doesn’t understand what he or she is talking about. In some cases, moreover, I suspect that a less-than scrupulous issuer doesn’t want us to understand a subject it feels legally obligated to touch upon.

Perhaps the most common problem, however, is that a well-intentioned and informed writer simply fails to get the message across to an intelligent, interested reader. In that case, stilted jargon and complex constructions are usually the villains.

Write with a specific person in mind. When writing Berkshire Hathaway’s annual report, I pretend that I’m talking to my sisters. I have no trouble picturing them: Though highly intelligent, they are not experts in accounting or finance. They will understand plain English, but jargon may puzzle them. My goal is simply to give them the information I would wish them to supply me if our positions were reversed. To succeed, I don’t need to be Shakespeare; I must, though, have a sincere desire to inform. (boldfacing supplied)

When the US SEC was crafting its Plain English guidelines for disclosure documents, its then chairman Arthur Levitt asked Buffett to rewrite the following paragraph into Plain English:

Original paragraph

Buffett’s Plain English revision

Maturity and duration management decisions are made in the context of the average maturity orientation for each Fund, as set forth in the Prospectus. The maturity structure of each Portfolio is adjusted in anticipation of cyclical interest rate changes. Such adjustments are not made in an effort to capture short-term, day-to-day movements in the market, but instead are implement-ed in anticipation of longer term, secular shifts in the levels of interest rates (i.e., shifts transcending and/or not inherent to the business cycle).

We will try to profit by correctly predicting future interest rates. When we have no strong opinion, we will generally hold intermediate-term bonds. But when we expect a major and sustained increase in rates, we will concentrate on short-term issues. And, conversely, if we expect a major shift to lower rates, we will buy long bonds. We will focus on the big picture and won’t make moves based on short-term considerations.

Relevant links:

1. What’s Warren Buffett's Secret to Great Writing? by Lawrence A. Cunningham. George Washington University Law School

2. Five Ways to Write Like Warren Buffett - Legal Writing Pro

3. How To Write Like Warren Buffett -- Or Not (Forbes)

4. Three ways to write like Warren Buffett (Management Today)

5. The 5 Greatest Letters Warren Buffett Has Ever Written (Business Insider)

6. How Warren Buffett approaches writing Berkshire Hathaway’s letter to shareholders (CNBC)

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (03): Classic advice on good writing

1. The secret of good writing, by Mark Twain (in a letter to a 12-year-old boy

“I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words, and brief sentences. That is the way to write English—it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; and don’t let the fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in.”

From Wikipedia: Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called “The Great American Novel.”

2. Recommendations by H.W. Fowler (1906):

• Prefer the familiar word to the far-fetched.
• Prefer the concrete word to the abstraction.
• Prefer the single word to the circumlocution.
• Prefer the short word to the long.
• Prefer the Saxon word to the Romance word.

3. George Orwell in “Politics and the English Language” (1946):

• Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
• Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
• Never use the passive where you can use the active.
• Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
• Break any of these rules sooner than saying anything outright barbarous. 

From Wikipedia: Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic, whose work is marked by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism.

Related resource: “Why George Orwell’s Ideas About Language Still Matter for Lawyers” by Judith D. Fischer, Montana Law Review

“The twin themes of ‘Politics and the English Language’ are that writers should express themselves in plain English and that ‘euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness’ prevent or conceal clear thought.”

4. The “Brevity Memo” (August 9, 1940) by Winston Churchill, UK Prime Minister



5. “Keep it clear, keep it simple” (Feb. 27, 1979) by Lee Kuan Yew, first Prime Minister of Singapore

“The use of words, the choice and arrangement of words in accordance with generally accepted rules of grammar, syntax and usage, can accurately convey ideas from one mind to another. It can be mastered.”

“The written English we want is clean, clear prose - not elegant, not stylish, just clean, clear prose. It means simplifying, polishing and tightening.”

“Remember: That which is written without much effort is seldom read with much pleasure. The more the pleasure, you can assume, as a rule of thumb, the greater the effort.”

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (02): Free resources in English grammar

Poor grammar compounds the problem of bad legal writing among Filipinos. One media report claims that “many graduates from our top universities have English language skills comparable only to 2nd grade children from Western countries.” As a law student, bar examinee, or legal writer, you must master the rules of English grammar.

1. The Internet offers thousands of free resources on English grammar. Some of the best resources are:

Better English for everyone

Activities for ESL Students

Jose Carillo’s English Forum

Capital Community College Guide to Good Grammar

OWL English Purdue Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling. Sentence Structure, and other exercises

Daily Writing Tips (Grammar 101 and Grammar)

“The Simple Secrets Of Writing & Speaking (Almost) Like A Professional” College Edition by Philip Yaffe (free PDF, 144 pages, 483 kb), from Plain Language Commission

Interactive English grammar and vocabulary exercises based on Korean historical dramas (with time limit and automatic scoring): These exercises are designed for Asians who are beginning learners of English. If you’re already an advanced learner of English, you can also use these exercises to refresh your knowledge. Thus, the exercises focus on errors in grammar that Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Malaysians, Indonesians, etc. commonly make with articles, prepositions, gender pronouns, tenses, and subject-verb agreement, among others.

2. Free resources from the New York State Bar Journal: articles by Judge Gerald Lebovits (faculty member of Columbia University - Law School, Fordham University School of Law, and New York University School of Law)

If I Were a Lawyer: Tense in Legal Writing

Do’s, Don’ts, and Maybes: Legal Writing Grammar - Part I

Do’s, Don’ts, and Maybes: Legal Writing Grammar - Part II

3. 15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look Silly [Infographic] from Copyblogger.com

Click the picture above to view or download
the complete infographic from Copyblogger (600 by 5327 px; 0.98 MB)

Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) 2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc. StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American. StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. Download your free 14-day trial copy now.