Published on April 21, 2016

hand-159474_960_720In his previous article, Ferry Vermeulen, MSc. showed us how to how to use the online STE-Dictionary to find approved usage of words. as Step #2 of the Thumbs Up Technique for Simplified Technical English. In this last  article, he discusses Step#3, modifying the sentences into simple and comprehensible language, based on the suggestions made by the online ST-Dictionary.

This step contains part 1 of the ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English Standard: the writing rules. There are two things that help to modify sentences towards STE:

  1. Look at the sentences in the APPROVED EXAMPLE column of the online STE-Dictionary

The writing rules have been applied to all these sentences. Without knowing all 66 writing rules, it is possible to copy/paste commonly used sentences from this column or imitate the way the sentences are built and create your own sentences.

  1. Present the crux of the information and convey it in simple and comprehensible language

When writing in a functional approach to write in a controlled language, there are specific rules for text functions such as instructions, results or warning messages.

Read more about it in this article.