Page 259 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

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Communication: Written English | 247

iv. Avoid rambling sentences that are put together with umpteen ‘and’s’,
‘or’s’, ‘if s’, ‘but’s’, ‘not only but also’s’ and never end!
v. Use parallel grammatical forms for parallel ideas. Pair nouns with
nouns; adjectives with adjectives; and phrases with phrases, etc..
e.g., Do not write a sentence such as ‘the new textbook offers ease of
classroom interaction, less costly and it is easily available’. Rather
write, ‘the new textbook offers easy classroom interaction, pocket-
friendly price and ready availability’. In this sentence, we have
consistently used ‘adj + noun’ to list on details.
Please remember that this principle makes your writing precise
and appropriate.
vi. Please remember that a modifier must immediately precede the word
it modifies. Otherwise, it can cause unintended mirth!
e.g., ‘My first wife’s job’ is not the same as ‘My wife’s first job’.
vii. Avoid split infinitives, please.
Never write as follows:

‘We tried to quickly and economically issue the needed laboratory
material.’
Here, between the ‘to’ and the ‘verb’, there are unnecessary insertions.
Avoid such a usage. Very rarely it gets used to emphasize an idea.
viii. Avoid wordy expressions.
Don’t say, ‘I have been wondering if you have found yourself in a
position to consider our request’.
Say instead, ‘Please consider our request’.
Here are some wordy expressions often used and the preferred parallel
expressions.
Table 10.3 Verbose and Preferred Expressions

Wordy/Verbose Preferred
I would appreciate it if Pleased…
In the month of June... In June…
It has come to our attention that –
It is interesting to note that –
In the event that If
At the present time Now
On condition that If
Are of the opinion that Believe that
In as much as For/since

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