Plain English at work

Så fungerar det

We want to write professional texts that readers understand at once. Plain English keeps sentences short, uses everyday words instead of jargon, prefers active verbs and speaks to the reader directly: You must pay by 1 May instead of Payment must be effected by the recipient by 1 May.

Being plain is not being informal. A professional email still needs a clear subject line, a polite greeting, the main point first, any necessary details and a courteous closing. Cut every word that does not help the reader act.

Jargon: Please be advised that remittance is required prior to the commencement of the course. Plain: Please pay before the course starts.

Say what you mean

Have you ever read a letter from an official organisation and had to read it three times before understanding what it wanted? You are not alone. For decades, government forms, contracts, medical leaflets and bank letters were full of long sentences, technical terms and phrases like "hereinafter referred to as" that ordinary readers found almost impossible to follow. In the 1970s, a campaign in Britain set out to change this. The Plain English Campaign, founded in 1979, argued that official information should be written so that the people who need it can understand it the first time they read it. One of its early protests involved shredding confusing government forms in front of the Houses of Parliament. Since then, similar movements have spread to many other countries, and in some places, such as the United States, plain language has even become a legal requirement for many government documents. What does plain English look like in practice? Writers are encouraged to use short sentences, everyday words and active verbs, to put the most important information first and to address the reader as "you". Instead of "It is necessary that the form be completed and returned", a plain version would say "Please fill in the form and send it back." Critics sometimes worry that plain English means simplifying complex subjects too much, or losing the precision that legal texts need. Supporters reply that clear writing is usually more precise, not less, because hidden assumptions and vague phrases become visible when sentences are shortened. In medicine, the stakes are especially high. A patient who misunderstands the instructions on a prescription may take the wrong dose. Clear communication is not just polite; sometimes it is a matter of safety.

Källor

1. Kursplan i engelska, Lgr22, Skolverket