SENTENCE STYLE FOR TECHNICAL REPORTERS

The following guidelines are easier for some to follow than for others, but they can, with a little work, be learned by almost anyone. Once learned, they'll become part of your permanent knowledge base like the multiplication tables! You won't have to learn them twice.

Take time then, even if you're fairly confident about your grammar, to see if you need to work on any of these areas. Try to understand the logic of the rule, what its purpose is. Study the examples until you see how the rule is violated and how it can be set right.

Subject/Verb Agreement

This rule comes first because understanding it can help you understand some of the others. In most sentences you follow it naturally, but it can cause trouble. The rule is as follows: • The subject and verb of each clause must agree in

number.

If you have a singular subject, you need a singular verb. If you have a plural subject, you need a plural verb. Singular and plural tell how many. Singular means one. Plural means more than one. Both your subject and verb must give the same signal as to how many you are talking about.

Subject / Verb Agreement

Read the following sentences and see if you can find any problems with subject/verb agreement.

1. The cat come home tired.

2. The cat comes home tired.

3. The cats come home tired.

4. The cats comes home tired.

Can you explain the problem in sentences one and four? If not, consider that with most nouns, our language forms the plural by adding an s, but with verbs, an s is added only in the third person singular.

Subject / Verb AgreementPerson/Number Chart

Singular Plural

1st person I come We come

2nd person You come You come

3rd person He, she, it or that thing comes

They, these, or those things come

All nouns, such as cat, pasta, or titanium, should be considered 3rd person.

Mastering Subject / Verb Agreement

1. Force yourself to listen for s sounds as you write.• In speaking, we sometimes drop these sounds as we fade one

word into another. Because of this, we may forget the sounds are even there. 

2. Don’t be misled by false sentence subjects.• Change “Those tomatoes from my brother looks juicy” to “Those

tomatoes from my brother look juicy.”

3. Treat “collective” nouns as singular subjects and verbs.• Change “My family like to go to church together” to “My family

likes to go to church together.” This is a tricky one!

4. Watch out for sentences with 2 or more subjects!• Change “Donald and Jermichael gets their fair share of penalties”

to “Donald and Jermichael get their fair share of penalties.”

Shifts in Verb Tense

The tense of your verb tells when events are taking place—whether in the past, the present, or the future. Early in your writing process, establish a "base tense" for your report, and shift away from it only for good reason. If you're writing about past events, use the past tense as your base tense. If you're writing about the present or the future, build around one of those tenses in all sentences.

• Wrong: “We went to Glass Nickel and ordered a pizza. The waitress comes over and brings us our drinks. I can see she's going to spill one.” [Verbs are in bold.]

• Correct: “We went to Glass Nickel and ordered a pizza. As the waitress came back with our drinks, I could see she was going to spill one.”

Shift in Person

Here again, the goal is to be clear and consistent. This time, however, your aim is to establish a steady, reliable point of view. Doing so helps the reader understand where the two of you stand in relation to the subject, and generally helps build a strong writer/reader relationship.

For our purposes, the main points of view from which to choose correspond to the persons on the Person/Number Chart. Thus, writing based on the first person singular point of view uses "I" and "me" as its foundation, while writing based on the third person plural would use "they" and "them."

Shift in Person

• Wrong: “Lady Gaga is my best friend. She won't let a person down. You can always count on her to be there when you need help.”

• Correct: “Lady Gaga is my best friend. She won't let me down. I can always count on her to be there when I need help.”

This writer is probably talking about her own relationship with Lady Gaga, not the reader's. Keeping point of view consistent in all three sentences makes that clear.

Shift in Person

First person singular (I or We): This point of view is often effective for informal writing, especially for writing about your personal interests and experiences. It draws attention to the writer, which may or may not be a good thing.

Example: “I have always enjoyed crocheting for the relaxation it provides me.”

First person plural: Slightly more formal than first person singular, this point of view can convey a sense that you and the reader are partners. It takes emphasis away from the writer as an individual and places emphasis on whatever group is designated by "we."

Example: “When we look closely at last month's sales figures, we can see what the future holds for our company.”

Shifts in Person

Second person singular or plural (You or You): Used carefully, this point of view can make readers feel you are speaking directly to them, are in a sense looking directly at them.

Sometimes, however, the second person is blurred into slang or substitutes for a more appropriate point of view. Like first person singular, it is generally most effective in personal or informal writing.• strong: You can't imagine how much Helen enjoyed

talking with you the other day.• weak: You had to be willing to give a hundred percent

whenever you went out on the floor or Coach Bavasi would bench you.

Shifts in PersonThird person singular and plural (he, she, they, them): These points of view distance you from your subject and your reader. They make your writing less personal and more formal. They are used for much academic, technical, and scientific writing where tradition or the subject demands an air of distance and objectivity.• Example: A person who violates any of the following laws can expect

to receive prompt and immediate punishment. (third person singular)

• Example: Students who wish to graduate in June should have their transcripts reviewed by their advisors. (third person plural)

Note: Choosing a dominant point of view doesn't mean you've limited yourself to a single set of pronouns for your whole paper, only that departures from the dominant point of view should be logical and effective.• Example: I hope you told them we would be late.