Styleandregister
1.1 Grammar
Impersonalconstructions
Oneof the most commonregister mistakesmadeby
inexperiencedwriters involvesusing too personala
mannerin a piece of formal writing.A chatty style,
characterizedbythe use of the wordsfandyou,could
beinappropriate and even offensivein a formalletteror a
magazine article.
1 Me,myself, I
Everybody likes to talk about themselves, but when (for
example) you'rereviewing a film, you shouldbe talking
aboutthefilmand not about yourself.
Rew rite thesethreepassages so that thew riters areno
longer t alking aboutthemselves.
Exam p le
InIll}opinion, t h is is ahighlyamusin gfilm.
This is ah ighl ya1mlsillgjillll.
a Iwouldsa~'thatthebest p laceto spendan autu mn
afternoonin Paris isproba blytheJa r d ins de
Luxe mb ou rg.
h The actresspla~;nghis lover isJulie tteBinoch e , and
altho ug hI pe rson allyd on 'tlikehe r\'elYII1l1chI must
admitth at he rperformance is vcrygood.
t: FromIII)'pointofview, this g" ide book is ve ryhelpful. It
te lls me aboutman y little -knownplaces and, as I'm not
the kind of person who like sto hepartofa crowdof
to urists.Ithink this is therightguide hook fo rme.
2 Theinformalyou
The way the wordyouis used in informal speech ('You
should have seen it!' 'if you know what I mean') is not
appropriatein formal writing. At best it soundschatty
and informal;at worst,disrespect ful or even offensive.
The wordyoupoints a fingeratthe reader.Butt he
readersare not friendsof yours, and you haveno right to
makeassumptionsaboutthem.Considerthefollowing
sentencefrom a film revieww ritten by a student.
The film is aboutwhat happe ns whe nyOlibecom emiddle -
aged:youcombyour hairoverthe bald patc h;...
A man reading this will be offended because you accuse
him personally. Awoman might say you aretalking
nonsense.What thestudent meant was;
The film is aboutichat happen stoamanvclvcn h e becom es
m iddle aged:h e combs.
Who exactlyare youreferring to?
To yourself?
This book convincesyouofthealkantagesof
\"eget:.u;anism. andafterreadingit youneve r want toeata
deada nimal agai n.
Thisbookconciucedm eofthe mlra lltagesof
r.egetarianism,a ndafterreadi llgitIncr.erscan t edto eat a
dead01li11l01agaill.
16 • Writingsub-s killsTo a specific person or group of people?
If your hou seis burgled, you can feel violated,
Victimsofaburglarye(UIoften feel ciolated.
Or to peop lein general?
Thisfilmmake s you meditateo n the meaning oflife and
reconside ryour attitudeto religion,
Th i s filmmak esone med itat e 011 the metwill goflife(11/( 1
reconsiderone'sattitudeto religioll.
(Useoneonly in formal written English, anddon'tuse it
to refer just to yourself.)
Rew rite thefollowing sentences without using the word
you,as if you werewritinga fairlyformal articleor review
in a newspaperormagazine.
a If yOl1mar ry now,inthe '90s,)'0 11ollly sta ndhalfa
chanceo f stay in g ma rried [or a life time.
b Youe asily for get howdiffere nt lif e was 50 yea rs ago.
c It 's incre dible whenvouhear abo ut howmuchth e v
spe ndo n the army. especiallywhenyou thinkofafl the
poo r and homel e sspeople.
d Thel/app yKitt ellBeginn ersPictu reDictionanjisa
good way of imprm i ng yourvocahularv.
e As you read this hookyou gr ad ua lly becomeless
ignoraJlt aboutwhat it is like to belong to an et hnic
mino rity thatsuffe rs fro m racial disc rimination and
abuse.
F Theopen fire and the dogsroaming arou nd th e
re staurantwi ll remindvou of hom e.
g T his hook tell sYOllen-r:thingyouneed to knowahou t
ban kin g.
h Focu sing on the prohl e ms faced hyworkingclasspeople
intheSta testoclav,th is is a filmthatre allymakesvouthink. ' ..
Inmy home town , you'realways secingviolencei llthe
stree ts,huty O Ilsoo nlearn toturna blindeye.
Inlily count ry th e re are few jobs fo rschoolle avers ,h ilt
w he n yo u' rede sperate yo u'll do 'Ul)ihing toge t ahead.
3 Theaggressiveyou
When the wordyouwould sound unnecessarily direct
andeven aggressive, it can often be avoided by use of
the passive.
Yo ud idn 't send ux t hecassetteswe ordered, and we'vepaid
vonfo r them.
' Fe haecnotyet reccicetl the cassettes,uhtchIcereorde red
amipaidfor.
Rew rit e the follow ing sentences,replacing the personal
constructionwith a passive.
a WhatI don 'tlike aboutvo. urd ubis that.voudon't offer
enough activi tiesfor young people.
h You mustdosomethingabouttheseproblems.
c I I'yon want t o keepyourcustomershappy, you shou ld n't
b reak thep ro misesy01lmake inyourbrochure.