9. Writing in English

Writing well in English – or any other language for that matter – involves somewhat more than avoiding errors in grammar, punctuation and spelling. Good writing is not just correct; it responds to the interests or needs of the intended readers. It must be planned, structured and designed with a particular audience and a particular purpose in mind. For maximum effectiveness writers need to take decisions at a variety of levels, ranging from the overall structure of the document, through the organisation of sentences within paragraphs to the placing of certain words at certain points in sentences. They should be aware that the writing process is full of challenges. Unlike speech, writing cannot rely on intonation or gesture, or exploit immediate feedback to put communication back on track. Likewise, unlike speakers, writers have to make certain assumptions about their intended – and often anonymous – audience, and they have to understand that communication is primarily their responsibility: they know full well what they want to say but their audience may not; and it is up to them to bridge the gap.

This section aims to make you aware of the issues to be considered if you are to rise to these challenges, convey your message efficiently and produce readily understandable texts.

9.1 Structure

The main point of writing institutional texts is to convey information to readers. If texts are not well structured, readers will struggle to follow what you are trying to say. The first step towards an effective, coherent document, then, is proper structuring. Ensure that your texts have clearly defined sections preceded by short headings which typographically stand out from the surrounding text. Use a numbering system to highlight the hierarchy of sections (1) and subsections (1.1). Organise your texts in paragraphs that are not too long (readers welcome white space).

9.2 Sentences

9.2.1 Types of sentence

There are four main types of sentence in English: simple, compound, complex and compound-complex.

Simple

Registration begins on 14 September.

Compound

Registration begins on 14 September, but courses do not start until 1 October.

Complex

Although registration starts on 14 September, courses do not start until 1 October.

Compound-complex

Although registration starts on 14 September, courses do not start until 1 October and payment is not due until the middle of November.

9.2.2 Sentence variety

For texts to be interesting, readable and easily understandable, they must do the following:

Combine sentences of the four types mentioned above: simple, compound, complex and compound-complex.
Have sentences of different lengths. Although short sentences are more understandable than long ones, avoid a telegraphic style by writing short, medium and (sometimes) long sentences. Aim for an average sentence length of between 15 and 20 words and beware of excessively long sentences with more than one subordination and too many parenthetical elements.
Contain sentences that begin in different ways. For example: Subject + verb Professor Clarke will speak in the main lecture theatre. Prepositional phrase During the meeting this morning, we discussed the new procedure. Infinitive phrase To register correctly, you must first log into the official website. Participle phrase On arriving at their host university, mobility students should get an appointment with their tutor.

9.2.3 End weight

The principle of end-weight states that shorter structures tend to come before longer structures in sentences. That is to say, a typical English sentence has a short subject immediately followed by the verb and then a long complement/object. If sentences are structured in this way, they can be understood more easily. Therefore, not

The fact that many mobility students arrived in September and had to return home almost immediately because their papers were not in order is unfortunate.

but

It is unfortunate that many mobility students arrived in September and had to return home almost immediately because their papers were not in order.

In the first of the two sentences above, the subject is long and complex and the verb is the penultimate word of the sentence. This requires readers to keep a lot of information in their short-term memory before they find the verb, which makes the sentence more difficult to read. The second sentence changes the structure so that the subject is short, and the verb is towards the beginning of the sentence followed by the longer, more complex sequence.

9.2.4 End focus

The principle of end focus refers to the position of new information in a sentence. You should place information you are giving readers for the first time and want them to focus on at the end of clauses and sentences. Therefore, not

The ability to communicate ideas to others is the single most important skill that undergraduate students must acquire.

but

The single most important skill that undergraduate students must acquire is the ability to communicate ideas to others.

9.3 Subjects and characters

In an affirmative or negative sentence

the grammatical subject is the noun (or nouns) before the verb, and
the characters are the nouns that express the concepts, people or things you are writing about.

Readers will understand a text more easily if its grammatical subjects are also frequently characters. For example, consider the following title and first sentence of an institutional text.

First-year students and the registration process

Complaints about the clarity of information on the website are frequently made by first-year students.

The title identifies two main characters (the things the text is going to discuss), but the subject of the first sentence is Complaints, which is neither of them. It would be more appropriate to position one of the characters in subject position. The following is an improvement.

First-year students and the registration process

First-year students frequently complain about the clarity of information on the website.

Readers will find your texts easier to follow if the subjects of your verbs refer to the main characters.

9.4 Verbs and actions

Readers understand sentences more easily if the verb expresses the action. Compare the verbs in bold in the two sentences below.

Full payment of all outstanding fees must be carried out before issuance of degree certificates to students.

All outstanding fees must be paid before degree certificates can be issued.

In sentence a), the actions of paying and issuing are expressed in the form of two nouns (payment and issuance), not in the verb (carried out). The technical term for expressing actions in the form of nouns is nominalisation. When you nominalise your texts, they will often sound abstract and dense because you use more abstractions and you require more words to express an idea. Note that the nominalised sentence above (a) is 17 words long while the verb-style sentence (b) is 13.

We recommend that you use verbs to express actions. Do not conceal them in nominalisations.

9.5 Placement of verbs

In general terms, English traditionally places the verb towards the beginning of the sentence immediately after the subject. The sentence below begins with a long introductory phrase, contains non-essential information, has a long subject and places information between the subject and the verb. The result is that the verb appears in an unnatural position towards the end of the sentence.

According to recent research carried out by members of the Communication and News research group from Oxford University, led by the well-known expert in the subject, Dr James White, many administrative workers from all sorts of public and private institutions, because they have never studied communication in any of its forms, have great difficulty in writing clear texts.

The sentence below shortens the introductory phrase and the subject, removes unnecessary information and keeps the subject and the verb together, thus moving the verb towards the beginning.

According to recent research from Oxford University, many administrative workers have great difficulty in writing clear texts because they have never studied communication in any of its forms.

9.6 Cohesion

Readers should be able to perceive that paragraphs are not just sets of individual sentences but units in which ideas progress logically and flow from sentence to sentence. Writing in such a way is said to be cohesive. You can make your texts cohesive in two main ways:

Use subjects that refer back to information introduced in previous sentences.
Use characters regularly in subject position.

The two-sentence text below uses option a) to create cohesion. The information presented at the end of the first sentence is immediately repeated and used as the subject of the second.

Dr James Watson will give a seminar on the Human Genome Project. The project began in 1990 and is considered to be of such importance that funding has just been approved for the next 15 years.

The paragraph below uses option b), a consistent string of characters in subject position.

The module of the Jean Monnet programme on European integration will be taught in February. Registration is now open to university members and professionals working in the field. The module will be taught in seminar room 3 and is organised by lecturers from the Department of Public Law. It analyses recent legislation and the transformation of European law over the last 15 years.

Three of the four sentences in this paragraph have the same subject: in the first sentence the subject is used in its full form (the module of the Jean Monnet programme on European integration), in the third it is used in a reduced form (the module) and in the fourth it is used in its pronominal form (it).

Finally, the paragraph below uses a combination of the two options.

Readers understand what a passage is generally about when they see consistent ideas toward the beginnings of sentences, especially in their subjects. They feel a passage is coherent when they read a sequence of topics that focuses on a narrow set of related ideas. But when topics seem to shift randomly, readers lose their context of each sentence. When that happens, they feel they are reading paragraphs that are unfocused and even disorganized.¹

¹ Williams, J.M., & Bizup, J. (2017). Style: Lessons in clarity and grace (12th ed.). Pearson.

In this text, there are eleven subjects (in bold), of which seven are the same (readers or its pronoun form they). So the general principle governing the organisation of this paragraph is the regular use of characters in subject position. However, the third and fourth sentences begin with a subordinate clause with different subjects (topics and that) that refer back to the information introduced at the end of the previous sentences.

9.7 Parallelism

Parallelism refers to giving each element in a list the same grammatical category (noun phrases, verb clauses, infinitives, etc.). The similarity of the grammatical form makes it easier for readers to perceive a similarity in content and function. The sentence below is not parallel.

The students’ objections were the injustice of the measures and that they were unconstitutional.

The first element of the list (the injustice of the measures) is a noun phrase while the second (they were unconstitutional) is a verb clause. The sentence would be clearer if it were rewritten. The sentence below contains a verb instead of the nominalisation objections and then has a verb clause that contains a list of two elements, both of which are adjectives.

The students objected that the measures were unjust and unconstitutional.

In any series of items, then, make sure that each element of the series is in exactly the same form as all of the others. In the example sentence below, the list has three elements: the first two are noun phrases while the last one is a verb clause. Therefore, not

The master’s students will acquire the personality, the contacts and have the knowledge to succeed in almost any business venture.

but

The master’s students will acquire the personality, the contacts and the knowledge to succeed in almost any business venture.

This general guideline can affect even the smallest, and seemingly trivial, of words. Therefore, not

The Erasmus students will talk of their experiences in Paris, in Athens and Moscow.

but

The Erasmus students will talk of their experiences in Paris, Athens and Moscow.

The principle of parallelism should also be respected in vertical lists. Therefore, not

Students must

present the official application form,
their personal academic certificate, and
proof of payment.

but

Students must present

the official application form,
their personal academic certificate, and
proof of payment.

Take particular care when you use such structures as not only … but also. Therefore, not

Master’s degrees not only prepare professionals but also researchers.

but

Master’s degrees prepare not only professionals but also researchers.

9.8 Concision

Texts are said to be concise if they communicate a message clearly using few words. Concise texts are generally effective because they make information easier to understand, but they are by no means easy to write. In fact, they often take considerably longer to write because they require lots of revision. Although it is impossible to identify all the ways in which authors inflate their texts, below you will find some strategies for reducing the length of your texts without removing necessary information.

9.8.1 Reduce clauses

Reduce clauses to simpler, shorter constructions. Therefore, not

The URV, which was founded in 1994, is the university of southern Catalonia.

but

Founded in 1994, the URV is the university of southern Catalonia.

9.8.2 Delete superfluous words and phrases

Delete all phrases and words that add nothing to the meaning or provide excessive detail. Therefore, not

The effect of the application of the new economic measures can be seen in last month’s figures, and it goes without saying that the University is aware of the new policy on tax deduction and that it has every intention of complying with the regulations.

but

The effect of the new economic measures can be seen in last month’s figures, and the University intends to comply with the new regulations on tax deduction.

9.8.3 Avoid nominalisations

Use verbs, not nominalisations, to express actions. Therefore, not

This report is dedicated to the discussion of the new economic measures.

but

This report discusses the new economic measures.

9.8.4 Avoid overuse of it is and there is

Expressions that combine it or there with the verb be can be effectively used for emphasis at times, but overuse can create unnecessarily lengthy prose. Use them sparingly. Therefore, not

It is the rector who will have the last word on this issue.

but

The rector will have the last word on this issue.

9.8.5 Do not make vague attributions

Authors often try to justify their statements by suggesting they have acquired the information from an authoritative source. If you wish to refer to a source, however, do not do so vaguely as in the following example. A straightforward statement is preferable to a vague attribution. Therefore, not

Student registrations have been observed to be increasing in some subjects that were previously determined to be unfashionable.
It has been shown that visiting lecturers have been using this new resource.

but

Student registrations have been increasing in some previously unfashionable subjects.
Visiting lecturers have been using this new resource.

9.8.6 Make direct statements

Do not feel obliged to provide a brief introduction to every statement you make. Often, no introduction is necessary. Therefore, not

With regard to good students, their most important characteristic is the ability to work hard.

but

The most important characteristic of good students is the ability to work hard.

9.8.7 Do not hedge excessively

When you write, you are often not certain of the facts and are obliged to hedge (that is to say, introduce elements of doubt and uncertainty into your texts). If you need to hedge, though, do so just once. Therefore, not

It could be possible that economic factors and the decline in immigration may be affecting student numbers.

but

Economic factors and the decline in immigration may be affecting student numbers.

9.9 Summary

One of the main problems of writing clearly and effectively is that there will always be a gap between what you want to say and what your readers may understand. The principles outlined above will help you overcome this. Remember that they are only guidelines, not inflexible rules, but they will give you a general idea about how most university texts should be written. In a nutshell, the principles of clear writing are the following:

Give your documents a clearly defined structure. The sections and subsections and their corresponding headings should guide readers towards meaning.
Write sentences of different types and lengths. This will give your texts variety. But beware of excessively long sentences!
Express actions not as abstract nouns (nominalisations) but as verbs.
Make sure that the main verb is towards the beginning of the sentence by avoiding long introductory phrases, keeping your subjects short and not separating the subject from the verb.
Begin sentences with information that you believe is familiar to readers and end sentences with what you believe is new or unfamiliar. Make sure that your most important characters occupy the subject position as often as possible.
Ensure that all the elements of a list are expressed in the same grammatical form.
Once you have completed your text, revise it for concision (among other things).

Interuniversity Style Guide for Writing Institutional Texts in English / 4th edition