What is a passive verb?
When the subject of a sentence isn't doing something the verb is passive. Find out more about passive verbs in this Bitesize Primary KS2 guides.
Writing
Why we use plain English
This absolutely ancient (from 2015) blog post by Ben Clancy, then at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), stands up rather nicely. Sometimes, it really is important to remind people why you use plain English. It can be helpful for your audience, sure. But also colleagues and teams that you work with from day to day.
Making a case for letter case
A little thing like capitalization can be a big deal
Federal plain language guidelines
The official writing guidelines for the Plain Writing Act of 2010.
Do not use "reading age" when thinking about adults
Reading age means very different things when applied to children and to adults. Do not use it for adults.
Headings and titles
A collaboratively developed, universal content style guide, based on usability evidence. Created by Content Design London.
Talking about the future
Learn about the different verb forms you can use to talk about the future, and do the exercises to practise using them.
Personal pronouns
Learn about personal pronouns like I, me, you, we and us and do the exercises to practise using them.
Active and passive voice with examples
Learn how to form the passive voice and do the exercises to practise using it.
What’s the difference between ACTIVE & PASSIVE?
What are the active and passive voices in English? We use the active voice in a sentence when the subject performs a verb. For example: “Jim wrote a letter”. We use the passive voice when the subject is acted on by the verb. For example: “The letter was delivered by the postman”. Now, when should you use which voice? That is the question! In this English grammar lesson, I will teach you about using the active and passive voices. I will explain in more detail the difference between the two and give you lots of examples to solidify your understanding. I will also show you how to change a sentence from active to passive, or passive to active. You will learn some reasons why you might choose one or the other. This will help you in everyday speaking, as well as in writing, making your English more varied and interesting.
What are the active and passive voices in English? We use the active voice in a sentence when the subject performs a verb. For example: “Jim wrote a letter”. We use the passive voice when the subject is acted on by the verb. For example: “The letter was delivered by the postman”. Now, when should you use which voice? That is the question! In this English grammar lesson, I will teach you about using the active and passive voices. I will explain in more detail the difference between the two and give you lots of examples to solidify your understanding. I will also show you how to change a sentence from active to passive, or passive to active. You will learn some reasons why you might choose one or the other. This will help you in everyday speaking, as well as in writing, making your English more varied and interesting. Don’t forget to do the quiz after watching! https://www.engvid.com/learn-english-...What are the active and passive voices in English? We use the active voice in a sentence when the subject performs a verb. For example: “Jim wrote a letter”. We use the passive voice when the subject is acted on by the verb. For example: “The letter was delivered by the postman”. Now, when should you use which voice? That is the questi …...more...more
Plain language for academic & professional writing
Plain language principles are useful for professional and academic writing. Learn how to use plain language to communicate effectively.
Writing effective letters
How to write and redesign letters so they're easy to use.
The real cost of not using clear language
Advice for convincing your place of work that writing in clearer language would be beneficial. Use the results of powerful research to help persuade and influence.
Plain language and word choice
GOV.UK guide to writing headings
How to write well for your audience, including specialists.
How should we draft our privacy information?
How to write plain language effectively
Love these short slides by June C, a content design consultant at SPARCK. While I love a comprehensive online course, you can't beat a few good ideas on a handful of screens to get a message across.
Noun vs Verb: What’s the Difference?
If you don't mind me saying so, I am pretty good at writing in clear language. But can I remember all the different types of verb, noun and any other linguistic reference without checking Google? Nope. Nope I can't.
Quick and useful explanation of the active voice
Here is a smashing and very short post on LinkedIn by Hannah Collins, content design lead at Today. Some people find it tricky to spot the difference between the active and passive voice, so I am very much into this kind of concise overview.
The case for jargon
I like this piece by content designer, Amy Hupe, because it acknowledges the nuances of language and even plain English. Yes, in most cases, jargon should be avoided. But jargon can empower people and communities too.
UX writing: making our microcopy clear, concise and useful
Miles Taylor, now at Torchbox, wrote this while at University of Bristol. It comes from having pulled a load of information together to try and explain the benefits of UX writing and clear content to internal project teams. This is a job that often seems to fall to us content folk. Plain language? Explain yourself!
How to Write in Plain English (With Examples)
Another concise guide to writing in plain English, this time from Proofed. This one includes examples, which always helps when trying to understand some of the core principles of writing clearly.
Writing about actions and their effects
First of all, you should read Adobe's guidelines on inclusive language. And then in the page on writing with visuals, you'll find a short table that shows some examples of how to write actions. Things like, 'Enter email' instead of 'Type email address', as the user may not be typing if they are using a screen reader.
The Ultimate Guide to Grammar
Grammarly is a useful tool that checks your writing for bad spells and stuff. But the company blog is also a content treasure trove of handy information, including this giant guide to pretty much every word-related term or phrase you can think of. Punctuation. Syntax. It's got the lot.
5 easy ways to shorten your sentences
When I run plain English workshops, people often find it more difficult to shorten sentences than they first expect. There's a real knack to it. It takes practice. But the tips in this Outwrite blog post will help you get started.
How to use the active or passive voice - BBC Bitesize
Guess what my 11-year-old twins are doing for their homework this week? They had to go through this ace web page all about the active and passive voice. It includes examples, videos and quizzes. I very much of approve of clear language in schools, though it would be great to see more about how it benefits people.
Making the case for clear language
This is super stuff from Nia Campbell at Content Design London. It's full of useful distinctions and information and a follow up to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) launching its first plain language standard.
The bit about whether we should use the term 'plain' or 'clear' language caught my eye! I fussed for ages over whether I should call this newsletter Clear Language Weekly. In the end, I went for Plain English Weekly instead because I felt it was the more recognised phrase. People know it as a thing.
But as you may have spotted, I do generally prefer 'clear language' when I talk about the practical act of – you know – writing clearly.
Passive Voice: When to Avoid It and When to Use It
If you can easily spot the passive voice, you're in a pretty good position to make a decision about whether it should be active instead. In most cases, active is your best option. But not always, as this Grammarly blog post points out.
Plain Language Is for Everyone, Even Experts
One web page (and associated video) full of useful advice, information and practical things you can do to improve your writing. The thrust of the piece shows why the people who might typically argue against clear language are, in fact, wrong. You can use this to persuade the doubters you find in your own work.
Sentence length: why 25 words is our limit
This post on GOV.UK is from 2014 but the benefits of writing shorter sentences remain the same today. One other thing that I always emphasise when running training sessions is one idea per sentence. It forces you to think about what you are trying to say and helps get the word count down.